Evaluating prevailing Bitcoin valuation models – how do they work and how do they perform today?

Bitcoin has, since the first coin was mined in 2009, taken the world by storm. Today, millions of people are embracing the digital currency, and is evident that the growth is not going to halt any time soon. The increased adoption of Bitcoin raises the question about the fair value of the asset. What is the best way to fairly value Bitcoin, if it has any fundamental value at all? Numerous valuation models for Bitcoin have been proposed throughout the years. The majority of today's most popular models were presented between 2017 and 2019, and much has transpired since then. In this thesis, we will examine Bitcoin's underlying technology and the opportunities and challenges it brings for the contemporary world. Currently, we are discovering that digital assets and Bitcoin offer a number of opportunities that provide utility and convenience for consumers that utilize the digital asset market. To maintain objectivity, we will also discuss the issues connected with the widespread use of digital assets like Bitcoin. Finally, we will explore whether present techniques of valuing Bitcoin may be regarded as a "fair" manner of valuing Bitcoin. In addition, we will contribute to the existing research on Bitcoin valuation by suggesting improvements in the current valuation methods that we believe holds merit

Evaluating prevailing Bitcoin valuation models – how do they work and how do they perform today?

Bitcoin has, since the first coin was mined in 2009, taken the world by storm. Today, millions of people are embracing the digital currency, and is evident that the growth is not going to halt any time soon. The increased adoption of Bitcoin raises the question about the fair value of the asset. What is the best way to fairly value Bitcoin, if it has any fundamental value at all? Numerous valuation models for Bitcoin have been proposed throughout the years. The majority of today's most popular models were presented between 2017 and 2019, and much has transpired since then. In this thesis, we will examine Bitcoin's underlying technology and the opportunities and challenges it brings for the contemporary world. Currently, we are discovering that digital assets and Bitcoin offer a number of opportunities that provide utility and convenience for consumers that utilize the digital asset market. To maintain objectivity, we will also discuss the issues connected with the widespread use of digital assets like Bitcoin. Finally, we will explore whether present techniques of valuing Bitcoin may be regarded as a "fair" manner of valuing Bitcoin. In addition, we will contribute to the existing research on Bitcoin valuation by suggesting improvements in the current valuation methods that we believe holds merit

User generated growth on social media platforms – weak ties and internationalization

This thesis focuses on user facilitated growth on digital platforms – more specifically on social media. In previous research, weak ties have been recognized for their power of connecting otherwise distant networks and therefore facilitating distribution of information. In network effects the value of the network is created through value exchange. On social media, the network value increases through interactions – exchanging information between users. While prior research suggests that weak ties aid in spreading information, the value provided by weak ties in born-digital platform growth is yet to be discovered. This study aims to combine the previous academic evidence on the nature of weak ties to social media context by building a theoretical framework and a conceptual model which are later analyzed together with the empirical findings to create a base for the research in the field. The empirical study is conducted with a mixed methods approach by utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods in the data analysis. The data was collected with an anonymous questionnaire from demographically distributed social media users. The sampling consists of individuals from three different continents – Asia, Europe and Africa. The results of the study verify that user generated weak ties on social media impact positively on platform internationalization by increasing the engagement and transforming the attitudes of platform users. This study identifies three primary factors that impact the generation of user-to-user weak ties on social media platforms and analyzes the consequences of user attitudes for digital platform internationalization. It can be observed from the data that certain users bring more value to the platform growth than others through their attitudes and habits, thus they act as junctions for different networks and provide a high volume channel for information exchange through their weak ties. By analyzing the findings of the empirical study from the perspective of the conceptual model, this study identifies future research areas and forms a foundation for the academic research in the field.Tämä tutkimus syventyy käyttäjälähtöisen kasvun tarkasteluun digitaalisilla alustoilla – tarkemmin rajaten sosiaalisessa mediassa. Aikaisempi tutkimus digitaalisten alustojen verkostojen saralla on tuonut esiin heikkojen siteiden roolin muussa tapauksessa kaukaisten verkostojen yhdistäjänä ja verkostojen välisen informaation kulun mahdollistajana. Verkostojen arvo muodostuu sosiaalisen median alustoilla käyttäjien välisen informaation vaihdon seurauksena. Aikaisemmat tutkimukset osoittavat, että heikkojen siteiden hyöty piilee juuri informaation jakelussa. Tästä huolimatta heikkojen siteiden arvo ja rooli born-digital alustojen kasvun mahdollistajana on vielä vailla akateemista näyttöä. Tämä tutkimus yhdistää aikaisemman akateemisen näytön heikkojen siteiden luonteesta sosiaalisen median kontekstiin rakentamalla teoreettisen viitekehyksen pohjalta käsitteellisen mallin, jota analysoidaan yhdessä tutkimuksen empiirisen aineiston kanssa akateemisen tutkimuspohjan luomiseksi. Empiirinen tutkimus on toteutettu monimenetelmäistä lähestymistapaa hyödyntäen yhdistelemällä määrällistä ja laadullista tutkimusmenetelmää. Datankeruu toteutettiin tutkimuksessa luomalla anonyymi tutkimuslomake demografisesti hajautetuille sosiaalisen median käyttäjille. Tutkimuksen otanta koostuu Aasiasta, Euroopasta ja Afrikasta kotoisin olevista vastaajista. Tutkimuksen tulokset vahvistavat käyttäjälähtöisten heikkojen siteiden omaavan positiivisen vaikutuksen sosiaalisen median alustojen kasvuun ja kansainvälistymiseen kasvattamalla käyttäjien sitoutumista ja muovaamalla asenteita. Tutkimus identifioi kolme ensisijaista muuttujaa, jotka vaikuttavat käyttäjien välille muodostettuihin heikkoihin siteisiin sosiaalisen median alustoilla ja analysoi käyttäjien asenteiden vaikutusta digitaalisten alustojen kansainvälistymisessä. Aineistosta on tulkittavissa, että käyttäjien tuoma arvo verkostolle vaihtelee asenteiden ja käytöksen seurauksena - näin ollen osa käyttäjistä toimii solmukohtina eri verkostoille ja tarjoaa korkean volyymin kanavan informaation levitykselle heikkojen siteidensä kautta. Tutkimustuloksia käsitteellisen mallin perspektiivistä analysoimalla on huomattavissa, että tutkimus tarjoaa akateemista näyttöä heikkojen siteiden arvon muodostumiselle sosiaalisen median alustojen kansainvälistymisessä ja luo pohjan aiheen jatkotutkimukselle

The Free Education Project: Higher Education Funding, E2 Implementation, and Crowdsourcing Crypto Development

This short paper, written in three different sections, explores how a cryptocurrency’s issuance and network effects could fund higher education. Synthesizing research from the Bronx Community College Cryptocurrency Research Lab, Bernard Lietaer’s notion of creating money for the needs of society, lessons learned by Galia Benartzi and the Hearts Project, and an exploration of how communities coalesce around open-source cryptocurrency projects, the authors provide an overview of the problem of funding higher education, the ways in which money that is needed could be created, and the key components to building a highly effective developer community. These three distinct yet vitally interconnected facets lay the groundwork for the Free Education Project. Lastly, based on the models herein, this paper calls for academics, entrepreneurs, and financial professionals to work together in ways that facilitate and generate the needed capital, built outside of taxation, to fund the noble purposes of education writ large

The Free Education Project: Higher Education Funding, E2 Implementation, and Crowdsourcing Crypto Development

This short paper, written in three different sections, explores how a cryptocurrency’s issuance and network effects could fund higher education. Synthesizing research from the Bronx Community College Cryptocurrency Research Lab, Bernard Lietaer’s notion of creating money for the needs of society, lessons learned by Galia Benartzi and the Hearts Project, and an exploration of how communities coalesce around open-source cryptocurrency projects, the authors provide an overview of the problem of funding higher education, the ways in which money that is needed could be created, and the key components to building a highly effective developer community. These three distinct yet vitally interconnected facets lay the groundwork for the Free Education Project. Lastly, based on the models herein, this paper calls for academics, entrepreneurs, and financial professionals to work together in ways that facilitate and generate the needed capital, built outside of taxation, to fund the noble purposes of education writ large

Big Data Justice: A Case for Regulating the Global Information Commons

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) challenges political theorists to think about data ownership and policymakers to regulate the collection and use of public data. AI producers benefit from free public data for training their systems while retaining the profits. We argue against the view that the use of public data must be free. The proponents of unconstrained use point out that consuming data does not diminish its quality and that information is in ample supply. Therefore, they suggest, publicly available data should be free. We present two objections. First, allowing free data use promotes unwanted inequality. Second, contributors of information did not and could not anticipate that their contribution would be used to train AI systems. Our argument implies that managing the ‘global information commons’ and charging for extensive data use is permissible and desirable. We discuss policy implications and propose a progressive data use tax to counter the inequality arising

Can range in information technology boost innovation in a mature industry? A case study of a work-oriented social media platform for innovative ideas and solutions in a large upstream oil & gas enterprise

This work explores the potential for enterprises in mature industries to employ the construct of Range, through its embodiment in software and processes that enable domain-crossing, to boost innovation. It builds on a theoretical framework proposed by Nobbay (2015), the Five Rs of IT-Enabled Innovation, which distinguishes Range as a separate concept in information science. Range involves the enablement of human networks across functional domains and socio-cultural boundaries. Work-Oriented Social Media (WOSM) platforms are prime examples of applications embodying Range. In a case study presented in this Doc 5 paper, a single WOSM platform, focused on innovation, is analysed from the perspective of features influencing adoption. The features are examined using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework (Venkatesh et al., 2003), which built on the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) and other theoretical lenses of technology adoption. Primary research was conducted in two phases, both using mixed methods. In the first phase, 55 professionals from multiple organizations were surveyed on expectations of IT service delivery in the Oil and Gas industry. Separately, six expert practitioners were interviewed in depth. The construct of Range was developed and explored in the context of domain-crossing potential. Detailed results of this first phase were presented in Docs 3 and 4, and are summarized and referenced in this paper. The second phase was a study on the use of a WOSM platform called BrightIdea to promote crowdsourced innovation. The work included investigation of features that influenced adoption and usage of the platform. Additionally, the potential for domain-crossing innovation was explored through data analysis of ideas on the platform. The study was built on data collected from a survey of 144 employees of Empco1, a large company in the Oil and Gas (O&G) sector. The study also included interviews with Empco staff tasked with promoting innovation. Key findings were: (a) Social media features such as Likes and Comments favour platform participation, (b) Graphics and Statistics are desirable features of the platform, (c) Senior leadership encouragement was observed, but the platform was not boosted by Empco's middle and lower management, and (d) There was evidence of domain-crossing ideas, but technical disciplines had limited crossing. This work contributes to theory in the fields of Information Strategy and Organisation and Innovation Management through the development of the Five Rs conceptual framework and examination of the potential for Range to promote innovation. It extends the UTAUT model to WOSM platforms. The case study of the BrightIdea platform also informs professional practice, through analysis of factors that promote participation. Both platform-intrinsic and enterprise-determined factors are covered

Technology acceptance in two-sided platforms: the adoption and use of contactless proximity payments by consumers and merchants

Two-sided markets created by platform intermediaries emerge in many industries. Current research on two-sided platforms primarily focuses on strategy and pricing, whereas information systems research has only sparsely taken into account their specifics. This research bridges the gap by identifying factors that impact technology acceptance in two-sided platforms. Drawing upon extant literature, this study identifies the factors impacting the adoption and use of contactless proximity payments by consumers and merchants, both sides of a two-sided platform. An explorative qualitative study with 20 experts in UK payment services identified 43 factors, and allowed to create a multi-levelled conceptual framework. Subsequently, a conceptual model is created by overlaying the enhanced second unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2E) and the expectation-confirmation model (ECM). The model is validated through a quantitative study among 400 UK consumers and merchants, using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results confirm that network externalities, the defining characteristic of multi-sided platforms, are a prevalent factor in the acceptance of technology in two-sided platforms. They do not only directly impact usage behaviour and intent, but are also instrumental in developing technology usage habits. As technology is increasingly transforming traditional linear markets into multi-sided platforms, this study significantly contributes to theory and practice. It will encourage researchers in the field of information systems to take into account the specifics of multi-sided platforms. The insights can inspire platform businesses to kickstart a virtuous circle by leveraging the network externalities between constituent groups to develop habits and thrive on the induced continuance behaviour