Jun 02, 2020 - Countries with universal background checks and gun registries experience significantly fewer gun-related deaths. As a highly encrypted, tamper-resistant, and decentralized database, distributed ledger technology has the potential to serve as a distributed registry of guns. DLT could allow gun buyers to prove a lack of a criminal record (the equivalent of a background check) without giving up personal information. This survey of the blockchain landscape highlights several start-ups such as VeriTransfer and BitRail that are experimenting with DLT to do for firearms provenance what other blockchain innovators have done with food, cannabis, and p...

Jun 27, 2018 - Decentralization, hashing functions, public key cryptography, and smart contracts are advantageous design features of blockchain systems. These require the coordination of multiple and diverse actors with differing incentives—cryptoeconomics—to solve any problems that arise. This research examines the impact of governance on these systems. Specifically, it explores governance needs at three levels of the blockchain stack: the Internet layer, the blockchain layer, and the application layer, including the deployment of decentralized applications (Dapps). De Filippi and McMullen explain the difference between governance by the infrastructure...

Mar 16, 2018 - This project digs into the regulatory implications of privately funding public blockchain-based resources, some of which qualify as an ecosystem such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, some as a decentralized application (Dapp), and some as a regulated security (e.g., The DAO), according the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Coalition of Automated Legal Applications describes various legal solutions, such as simple agreement for future tokens, that could support ecosystems that are innovative, streamlined, and fair for all stakeholders.

Oct 26, 2017 - This work helps CEOs to develop strategy around implementing and commercializing this new disruptive technology. CEOs must pick the right change agents to identify the problems to be solved with the technology so that the company picks the right pilot project. CEOs also need a strategy for communicating about that pilot with multiple stakeholders, learning from it whether it succeeds or not, and socializing lessons so that the company continues to experiment with the new technology.

Aug 31, 2019 - This project surveys patents issued globally in the blockchain space, compares them to the nature and volume of patents in the Internet space, and puts them into categories of innovation. The author walks through a careful analysis of the claims of issued patents, for companies to decide whether to avoid such patents or to design around their claims. He identifies deficiencies in the patent office review of prior art, which—when rectified—could render a patent invalid. Finally, he discusses strategic uses of patent offices and the federal court system in the defense of or dispute over an issued patent.

Jul 31, 2019 - This project examines how blockchain supports user centric identity systems, through such technological primitives as public key cryptography, hashing functions, zero-knowledge proofs, and homomorphic encryption. Its authors set nine benchmarks—technical specifications, governance, security, privacy, recovery and revocation, user experience, data controls, and degrees of decentralization and self-sovereignty—by which prospective users and ecosystem partners might assess different identity services and compare them to each other and the status quo. The purpose is to help users map their goals to the technical features necessary for achievi...