Sustainable Development Report: Blockchain, the Web3 & the SDGs

This is an output paper of the applied research that was conducted between July 2018 - October 2019 funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and conducted by the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and RCE Vienna (Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development).Series: Working Paper Series / Institute for Cryptoeconomics / Interdisciplinary Researc

Sustainable Development Report: Blockchain, the Web3 & the SDGs

This is an output paper of the applied research that was conducted between July 2018 - October 2019 funded by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and conducted by the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and RCE Vienna (Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development).Series: Working Paper Series / Institute for Cryptoeconomics / Interdisciplinary Researc

Assessing the effects of blockchains in video games:case IkuneRacers

Abstract. Blockchain based applications are emerging on many domains to revolutionize software practices. Blockchains utilize technologies such as distributed ledgers and consensus algorithms to provide peer-to-peer based solutions that fulfil benefits like transparency, traceability, and immutability. The purpose of this study was to assess if these beneficial effects could be harnessed in video games to solve issues like poor retention and engagement. Additionally, one topic of interest was to find out if blockchain would affect the way players value their video game assets. This study utilizes the design science research methodology to address the research problem. One of the steps of the methodology includes creating a design artefact that can fulfil the objectives defined to it. For this study, however, the early steps of the methodology including the creation of the artefact were already done and addressed in a previous paper. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to demonstrate the usage of the artefact with qualitative interviews and evaluate if the objectives have been met. As an additional research question, this study set out to provide suggestions for improving the artefact for a possible new iteration. The interviews suggested that there were some indications towards increased retention for people who were interested in asset generation or the implementation of blockchain. For engagement, there were signs that people who enjoyed certain kind of video games were engaged by the asset generation aspect of the artefact. These are initial results that should be studied further to get definitive results. For the way users value their asset, there were huge discrepancies that made it difficult to draw conclusions, but the answers provided valuable insight on the topic. The themes for improving the artefact were the role of authority, asset exchange systems, blockchain transparency, third-party involvement in video games, and trust on blockchain. The findings in this study can be helpful towards further research on any of those topics, but for the purposes of design science research, focusing on asset exchange systems or third-party involvement in video games was established to be most sensible. That is because both of those domains could be improved by new blockchain based designs solutions

Cloud/fog computing resource management and pricing for blockchain networks

The mining process in blockchain requires solving a proof-of-work puzzle, which is resource expensive to implement in mobile devices due to the high computing power and energy needed. In this paper, we, for the first time, consider edge computing as an enabler for mobile blockchain. In particular, we study edge computing resource management and pricing to support mobile blockchain applications in which the mining process of miners can be offloaded to an edge computing service provider. We formulate a two-stage Stackelberg game to jointly maximize the profit of the edge computing service provider and the individual utilities of the miners. In the first stage, the service provider sets the price of edge computing nodes. In the second stage, the miners decide on the service demand to purchase based on the observed prices. We apply the backward induction to analyze the sub-game perfect equilibrium in each stage for both uniform and discriminatory pricing schemes. For the uniform pricing where the same price is applied to all miners, the existence and uniqueness of Stackelberg equilibrium are validated by identifying the best response strategies of the miners. For the discriminatory pricing where the different prices are applied to different miners, the Stackelberg equilibrium is proved to exist and be unique by capitalizing on the Variational Inequality theory. Further, the real experimental results are employed to justify our proposed model.Comment: 16 pages, double-column version, accepted by IEEE Internet of Things Journa

Blockchain based energy transactions for a prosumer community

PhD thesis in Information technologyIntegration of solar micro-generation capabilities in domestic contexts is on the rise, leading to the creation of prosumer communities who generate part of the energy they consume. Prosumer communities require a decentralized, transparent and immutable transaction system in order to extract value from their surplus energy generation and usage flexibility. The aim of this study is to develop frameworks and methods to create such a prosumer transaction system with self enforcing smart contracts to facilitate trading of energy assets such as electricity units, energy flexibility incentives and storage credits. Blockchain is a transparent, distributed ledger for consensus based transaction processing maintained by a network of peer nodes. Hyperledger Fabric is a blockchain platform that offers the added benefits of lower operating cost, faster transaction processing, user authentication based access control and support for self enforcing smart contracts. This thesis investigates the applicability of Hyperledger Fabric to tokenize and transact energy assets in a unified transaction system. Data driven approaches to implement an incentive based energy flexibility system for peak mitigation on the blockchain are also investigated. To this end, the stakeholders for such a transaction management system were identified and their business relationships and interactions were described. Energy assets were encapsulated into blockchain tokens and algorithms were developed and encoded into self enforcing smart contracts based on the stakeholder relationships. A unified transaction framework was proposed that would bring on board all the stakeholders, their trading relationships and the assets being transacted. Tokens and methods in the transaction system were implemented in fungible and non fungible versions and the versions were critically compared in terms of application area, design, algorithmic complexity, performance, advantages and disadvantages. Further, with a focus on energy flexibility applications, a prosumer research dataset was analysed to gain insights into the production and consumption behaviors. Based on these insights, a data driven approach for peak mitigation was proposed and implemented on the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain. The thesis thus addresses different aspects of a blockchain based prosumer transaction system, and shows the feasibility of proposed approaches through implementation and performance testing of proofs of concept

COINSENSUS: The Need for Uniform National Virtual Currency Regulations

Google search volume for bitcoin and bitcoin-related keywords increased by as much as 1000 percent in 2017 from previous years. This increased interest comes hand-in-hand with increased regulatory and legislative scrutiny. Currently, there is disparate regulation for virtual currencies across national and state borders alike. States’ promulgation of various and incongruous virtual currency regulations have forced service providers to withdraw from different states within the country. However, transactions are not contained within state lines, and disparate state-by-state regulation is impracticable. The Uniform Law Commission recognized the need for uniform guidance for those entering the North American market and drafted the Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act for each state to adopt in 2017. This Comment argues that every state should implement language identical or similar to the Uniform Law Commission’s proposed regulation. Implementing a uniform regulation applicable to clearly defined entities in this explosively growing field would provide harmony amongst the states and create an environment where both service providers and end-users have clear guidance on how to conform to the law. Further, regulatory clarity would provide consumers with much needed protection. This Comment begins by examining the history and development of bitcoin and blockchain assets. Next, this Comment dis- cusses the need for regulations in the United States. Then, this Comment provides an overview of the existing laws and regulations at both state and federal levels, and examines the simultaneous yet inconsistent legal characterizations imposed on virtual currencies. Virtual currencies can be: a piece of property, a se- curity, a commodity, and of course, a currency. This Comment further analyzes the language and criticisms of the Uniform Law Commission’s proposed Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act. Finally, this Comment argues that the adoption of a uniform regulation is vital for the blockchain community’s continued existence in America

Integration of Blockchain and Auction Models: A Survey, Some Applications, and Challenges

In recent years, blockchain has gained widespread attention as an emerging technology for decentralization, transparency, and immutability in advancing online activities over public networks. As an essential market process, auctions have been well studied and applied in many business fields due to their efficiency and contributions to fair trade. Complementary features between blockchain and auction models trigger a great potential for research and innovation. On the one hand, the decentralized nature of blockchain can provide a trustworthy, secure, and cost-effective mechanism to manage the auction process; on the other hand, auction models can be utilized to design incentive and consensus protocols in blockchain architectures. These opportunities have attracted enormous research and innovation activities in both academia and industry; however, there is a lack of an in-depth review of existing solutions and achievements. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive state-of-the-art survey of these two research topics. We review the existing solutions for integrating blockchain and auction models, with some application-oriented taxonomies generated. Additionally, we highlight some open research challenges and future directions towards integrated blockchain-auction models