Day: May 25, 2022

De Giovanni on Blockchain Technology Applications in Businesses and Organizations

Pietro De Giovanni (Luiss University) has posted “Blockchain Technology Applications in Businesses and Organizations” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Blockchain technology has the ability to disrupt industries and transform business models since all intermediaries and stakeholders can now interact with little friction and at a fraction of the current transaction costs. Using blockchain technology, firms can undergo new applications and processes by pursuing transparency and control, low bureaucracy, trustless relationships, high standards of responsibility, and sustainability. As a result, business and organizations can successfully implement blockchain to grant transparency to consumers and end-users; remove challenges linked to pollution, frauds, human rights, abuse, and other inefficiencies; as well as guaranteed traceability of goods and services by univocally identifying the provenance inputs’ quantity and quality along with their treatment and origin. Blockchain Technology Applications in Businesses and Organizations reveals the true advantages that blockchain entails for firms by creating transparent and digital transactions, resolves conflicts and exceptions, and provides incentive-based mechanisms and smart contracts. This book seeks to create a clear understanding of blockchain’s applications such that business leaders can see and evaluate its real advantages. Blockchain is then analyzed not from the typical perspective of financial tools using cryptocurrencies and bitcoins but from the perspective of the business advantages for business and organizations. Specifically, the book highlights the advantages of blockchain across different segments and industries by analyzing specific aspects like procurement, manufacturing, contracts, inventory, logistics, operations, sustainability, technology, and innovation. It is an essential reference source for managers, executives, IT specialists, students, operations managers, supply chain managers, project managers, technology managers, academicians, and researchers.

Van Loo on Privacy Pretexts

Rory Van Loo (Boston University – School of Law; Yale ISP) has posted “Privacy Pretexts” (Cornell Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Data privacy’s ethos lies in protecting the individual from institutions. Increasingly, however, institutions are deploying privacy arguments in ways that harm individuals. Platforms like Amazon, Facebook, and Google wall off information from competitors in the name of privacy. Financial institutions under investigation justify withholding files from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by saying they must protect sensitive customer data. In these and other ways, the private sector is exploiting privacy to avoid competition and accountability. This Article highlights the breadth of privacy pretexts and uncovers their moral structure. Like most pretexts, there is an element of truth to the claims. But left unchallenged, they will pave a path contrary to privacy’s ethos by blocking individuals’ data allies—the digital helpers, competitors, and regulators who need access to personal data to advance people’s interests. Addressing this move requires recognizing and overcoming deep tensions in the field of privacy. Although data privacy’s roots are in guarding against access, its future depends on promoting allied access.

Recommended.

Nabilou on Defining the Perimeters of Crypto-Banking

Hossein Nabilou (University of Amsterdam Law School; UNIDROIT) has posted “The Law and Macroeconomics of Custody and Asset Segregation Rules: Defining the Perimeters of Crypto-Banking” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Custody – simply defined as holding securities or funds on behalf of third parties – is one of the key institutions that defines and distinguishes major financial institutions in the financial system. However, custody rules in financial law have traditionally been studied as a microprudential tool for investor protection purposes, while their macroeconomic impact has largely been overlooked. Inspired by the literature on asset custody and its impact on the institutional design of the traditional financial markets, institutions, and infrastructures, this paper studies the potential impact of defining custody rules in the cryptoasset markets on the future developments of the cryptoasset ecosystem. In traditional finance, a survey of relevant regulations applicable to financial institutions shows that the custody rules and client asset (segregation) rules apply to all financial institutions, other than commercial banks’ core business activity (i.e., deposit-taking). The most salient impact of exempting deposit contracts from custody and client asset rules has been the emergence of a business model for banks that treat their clients’ funds as their own and use them for their own accounts. Comingling clients’ funds with that of the bank is a critical defining feature of the banking industry that differentiates it from non-bank financial institutions as well as non-financial firms, and positions banks at the heart of monetary systems. The custody and asset segregation rules can play the same important role in the future developments of the crypto-asset industry. To delineate the scope of crypto-banking and differentiate it from other types of cryptoasset services, such as exchange and custodial services, it is crucial to start from the custody and asset segregation rules. This paper advocates for a presumption of custody when a client does not self-custody his cryptoassets, giving (or sharing) the control of the assets to a third party. It argues that such a presumption not only would serve the objectives of investor protection but also could prevent excessive credit creation in the cryptoasset ecosystem and the potential risk spillovers to the conventional financial markets and the real economy.