Jun 24, 2022 - This research brief summarizes the findings of a substantial research project funded by Input Output (IO) and focused on discovering new approaches to the governance of resources in blockchain ecosystems. The team was substantial, with two dozen researchers from IO, the Boston Consulting Group, and the Blockchain Research Institute. The process was iterative, with write-ups, peer reviews, and discussions of research results and feedback. Based on its findings, the research team proposed a new form of stewardship, called the decentralized resource governance (DRG) model. It is a means of governing initiatives to deploy resources, shap...

Sep 28, 2017 - A new phenomenon—initial coin offerings—enabled through blockchain technology is upending basic tenets of twentieth-century capitalism. This project frames the opportunity in terms of addressing the tragedy of the commons. He studies the development and ramification of the emerging token economy and walks through the landscape of token types. He previews the economic effects of digital scarcity, tokens as powerful incentives, and the legal and policy ramifications for securities law and property rights.

Jan 30, 2018 - In the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the agenda for sustainable development, this project provides a taxonomy for analyzing what the blockchain community is doing to counter the adverse effects of human activity on the planet. It explores such approaches as developing less computationally demanding consensus algorithms, aligning stakeholder incentives, and combining distributed ledgers with other innovations such as artificial intelligence, sharing economy, Internet of Things, and big data analytics.

Dec 05, 2017 - A new phenomenon—initial coin offerings—enabled through blockchain technology is upending basic tenets of 20th century capitalism. This project studies the development and ramification of the emerging token economy, its viability, and the legal and policy ramifications in terms of securities law and property rights.

Oct 29, 2021 - In recent months, popularity of non-fungible tokens has soared again, at a new level of maturity in tools, infrastructure, and proven use cases. These advances have catalyzed the interest of enterprise leaders seeking to understand the value of NFTs in their businesses. This project focuses on what companies should know about this fledgling industry for unique digital assets. NFTs present opportunities to tokenize intellectual property, reputation, conversations, tangible assets, and new ways to engage customers, employees, and communities. From social media and online gaming to enterprise software and physical goods, organizations should fin...

Sep 30, 2019 - This research explores the disruptive effects of blockchain technologies on central banking and the financial services industry. Its author discusses Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra, and how the other FAANG companies—that is, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix, and Google—might respond with their own digital tokens. He introduces five transformations—cryptoassets, the tokenization of everything, blockchains as state machines, a new model for identity, and the nine forms of decentralized finance. He examines the challenges that incumbents and innovators face during this transition; and he previews the world of financial services in th...