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        <title>Frontiers in Blockchain | Blockchain for Good section | New and Recent Articles</title>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/blockchain/sections/blockchain-for-good</link>
        <description>RSS Feed for Blockchain for Good section in the Frontiers in Blockchain journal | New and Recent Articles</description>
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        <pubDate>2026-05-13T08:36:25.99+00:00</pubDate>
        <ttl>60</ttl>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2026.1762670</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2026.1762670</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Interoperability with DLT for an effective e-governance strategy—current trends]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-05-07T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Systematic Review</category>
        <author>Kumar D</author><author>B. M. Beena</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has emerged as a transformative force in decentralized data management across e-transactions, with significant applications in the banking, finance, supply chain, and trade sectors. Recognizing its potential, governments, including Estonia and India, have implemented DLT-based e-services to enhance transparency and privacy in public administration. With numerous platforms arising/available in the DLT segment, such as Hyperledger, Ethereum, Corda, Ripple, Stellar, Dragonchain, IOTA, and Hedera, understanding interoperability mechanisms across heterogeneous platforms has become critical. This comprehensive research provides a systematic analysis of distributed ledger technology fundamentals, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and their applications in e-governance services. The study examines leading DLT platforms and their core features, with a specific focus on interoperability capabilities essential for seamless cross-platform integration. Through analysis of existing interoperability solutions, including trade finance platforms, central bank digital currency initiatives, and e-governance implementations, this work identifies critical challenges and evaluation criteria for DLT adoption. The research addresses three primary research questions: (1) what capabilities does DLT provide for implementing effective e-governance strategies? (2) How does interoperability influence the delivery and effectiveness of various e-governance services? (3) What is the current impact and growth trajectory of existing e-governance services providing interoperability capabilities? The primary contributions include systematic exploration of interoperability mechanisms in various DLT platforms, documentation of existing implementations across multiple countries, including Estonia, the European Union, Dubai, and India, identification of technical challenges and security considerations, and development of a future roadmap for DLT-influenced e-governance systems. The research demonstrates that effective interoperability, combined with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum-resistant cryptography, can enable citizen-centric, transparent, and secure governance systems while maintaining regulatory compliance and data privacy.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1626695</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1626695</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Decentralized internet-of-things networks for environmental data pipelines: opportunities and challenges in a community-based urban green space restoration project in Nairobi, Kenya]]></title>
        <pubdate>2026-01-21T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Community Case Study</category>
        <author>Hanna Fiegenbaum</author><author>Bradley Azegele</author><author>Stephan Seider</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Decentralized IoT-networks are part of a broader class of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), which use blockchain to decentralize, incentivize, and reward the operation and maintenance of technical infrastructure. This study examines how decentralized IoT-networks can address challenges in the design and governance of environmental data streams and reduce adoption barriers for monitoring infrastructure. It draws on the deployment of IoT sensors for measuring environmental variables in a community-based urban restoration project in Nairobi, Kenya. The paper discusses technical features and presents observations on network reliability, reductions in operational costs, accessibility, and community participation. The findings suggest that decentralized IoT systems hold promise for enhancing distributed environmental data collection and transparent multi-party governance, due to significant reductions in operational costs, the potential for fractional income generation, traceable data trails, and inclusive governance mechanisms.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1688287</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1688287</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Towards a Universal Digital Identity: a blockchain-based framework for borderless verification]]></title>
        <pubdate>2025-11-26T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Glad Akhison</author>
        <description><![CDATA[IntroductionIdentity is the cornerstone of trust in modern society, yet current systems remain fragmented, document-based, and restricted by national boundaries. Physical passports, national identity cards, and paper records continue to define global mobility and access to services, despite being vulnerable to fraud, inefficiency, and exclusion. In today’s hyperconnected world, human mobility and digital finance have outgrown the boundaries of national identity systems. A traveller can fly from Kigali to London, study in Dubai, and work remotely for a company in Singapore, yet must repeatedly prove who they are through different passports, bank documents, and local IDs. This fragmentation slows innovation, increases compliance costs, and excludes millions who live or work across borders.MethodsThis paper argues for the establishment of a universal digital identity (UDI) hosted on a decentralised blockchain network. Under this model, each individual undergoes a one-time biometric enrolment capturing face, fingerprint, and voice data secured through cryptographic hashing and immutably stored on a blockchain ledger. A unique digital identity number (UDIN) is then generated, enabling retrieval of identity records worldwide by authorised institutions. Verification may occur in two ways: by presenting the UDIN or by frictionless biometric authentication, such as smiling at a camera or placing a finger on a scanner, instantly confirming identity against the blockchain.ResultsThis system eliminates the need for physical documents, reduces fraud, lowers compliance costs, and enhances global mobility and inclusion. With one ID recognised globally, a person can open a bank account in any country, cross borders securely, and interact in the global economy without friction, paperwork, or repeated verification.DiscussionThe paper sets out the vision, necessity, operational framework, and implications of a blockchain-based UDI, arguing that such a transformation is both inevitable and essential for the future of the digital economy. The Universal Digital Identity (UDI) envisions a world where a single, verifiable digital credential enables seamless travel, banking, and access to services anywhere on the planet.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1596567</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1596567</link>
        <title><![CDATA[A man–vehicle e-passport system using biometric blockchain for automated border control]]></title>
        <pubdate>2025-07-25T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Bing Xu</author><author>Ahmed Bouridane</author><author>Qiang Ni</author><author>Richard Jiang</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Since the mid-1990s, the evolution of internet technologies has significantly transformed global connectivity and digital interaction. Today, advances in computing and networking continue to support the development of emerging paradigms such as the metaverse and digital twins—concepts that aspire to bridge physical and digital experiences. Parallel to this, blockchain technology is reshaping traditional notions of trust by enabling immutable transaction records and smart contract automation, thereby fostering the rise of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Building on these foundations, this study presents a biometric blockchain-based e-passport system designed to improve the operational efficiency of automated border control (ABC) systems. At the core of our approach is the concept of a DAO-inspired framework for border control wherein identity verification and management tasks are executed through atomic smart contracts and recorded immutably on the blockchain. Our system incorporates biometric authentication and decentralized identity features to digitize border documentation and automate verification processes. This creates a secure, verifiable digital representation of an individual’s identity that can interact with ABC workflows. Performance evaluations conducted using Hyperledger Caliper demonstrate the potential of the proposed system, showing a 3.5-fold improvement in processing efficiency compared to traditional ABC setups.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1510429</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1510429</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Decentralized biobanking platform for organoid research networks]]></title>
        <pubdate>2025-07-02T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Marielle Gross</author><author>Ananya Dewan</author><author>Mario Macis</author><author>Eve Budd</author><author>M. Eifler</author><author>Olayinka Odeniran</author><author>Jeff Kahn</author><author>Robert Clell Miller</author><author>William Sanchez</author>
        <description><![CDATA[IntroductionOrganoids are living, patient-derived tumor models that are revolutionizing precision medicine and drug development, however current privacy practices strip identifiers, thereby undermining ethics, efficiency, and effectiveness for patients and research enterprises alike. Decentralized biobanking “de-bi” applies non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to empower privacy-preserving specimen tracking and data sharing for networks of scientists, donors, and physicians. We design, develop, and demonstrate a functional de-bi platform for a real-world organoid biobank.MethodsEthnography of the organoid biobanking ecosystem was performed in 2022–2023, with site visits, interviews, focus groups, and structured observations of stakeholder interactions. An initial ERC-721 prototype was developed and tested, informing the design of a comprehensive NFT model. Web and mobile app prototypes were developed with a suite of ERC-1155 protocols representing ecosystem constituents as NFTs. We demonstrated the platform with publicly available Human Cancer Models Initiatives organoids to establish proof-of-concept for decentralized biobanking as the foundation of a democratized biomedical metaverse, or “biomediverse.”ResultsScientists revealed key challenges for organoid research and development under policy, scientific, and economic constraints of the life science landscape. We advanced decentralized biobanking as a blockchain overlay network solution with potential to overcome barriers, enhance utility and unlock value by uniting collaborators in a privacy-preserving biomediverse. Dedicated smart contracts created “soulbound” NFTs as de-identified digital twins of patients, physicians, and scientists in a networked organoid ecosystem. We modeled biospecimen collection, processing, and distribution, including generation and expansion of organoids, via an auditable on-chain mechanism. Key features included the ability to bootstrap the digital twin NFT model onto an established organoid biobank, visibility of patient-linked biospecimens and related research activities for all ecosystem participants, as well as tooling for multisided data exchange. Implementing de-bi with ERC-1155 showed potential to minimize gas costs of on-chain activity vs ERC-721, though complementary layer-2 solutions will be essential for economic viability.ConclusionDecentralized biobanking has the potential to enhance efficiency, increase translational impact and drive research discovery through implementation of NFT digital twins for organoid research networks. Importantly, this approach also bolsters ethical practices by fostering inclusion, ensuring transparency, and enhancing accountability across the research ecosystem. Next steps include live pilot testing, market design research to align stakeholder incentives, and technical solutions to support a sustainable, scalable and mutually rewarding biomediverse.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1564083</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1564083</link>
        <title><![CDATA[An evaluation of the regenerative claims of Web3’s ReFi movement]]></title>
        <pubdate>2025-06-02T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Kate Bennett</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement is gaining traction in the Web3 space, with numerous blockchain-based initiatives claiming alignment with regenerative outcomes. However, many of these claims remain vague or structurally unsubstantiated. This study evaluates 40 self-identified ReFi initiatives to determine the extent to which their design, governance, capital structures, and impact logic align with foundational regenerative principles. Drawing from regenerative economics, living systems theory, and regenerative organizational design, a structured evaluation framework was developed covering six dimensions across three domains: regenerative finance, real-world impact, and regenerative organizational design. The framework informed two scoring-based questionnaires, enabling systematic assessment of regenerative and impact claims. Results revealed significant variation in alignment: 50% of initiatives were categorized as Regenerative Finance (ReFi), 45% as Sustainable DeFi, and 5% as Structurally Misaligned, reflecting limited coherence between regenerative claims and actual practice. The findings showed that team diversity and initiative maturity were positively correlated with regenerative performance, and that a lack of holistic impact evaluation—across thematic dimensions and throughout operational, direct, and indirect value chains—remains a key limitation across the sector. A typology of regenerative alignment and a replicable self-evaluation tool were developed to help funders, practitioners, and protocol developers assess which ReFi initiatives are structurally aligned with regenerative principles and which remain aspirational. This research advances conceptual and practical clarity around the term “regenerative” in Web3, supporting the evolution of more accountable, transparent, and transformation-oriented financial systems in service to the Global Commons.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1518577</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1518577</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Co-produced decentralised surveys as a trustworthy vector to put employees’ well-being at the core of companies’ performance]]></title>
        <pubdate>2025-03-31T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Adèle Bréart De Boisanger</author><author>Wendy Sims-Schouten</author><author>Francois Sicard</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Assessing employees’ wellbeing has become central to fostering an environment where employees can thrive and contribute to companies’ adaptability and competitiveness in the market. Traditional methods for assessing wellbeing often face significant challenges, with a major issue being the lack of trust and confidence employees may have in these processes. Employees may hesitate to provide honest feedback due to concerns not only about data integrity and confidentiality, but also about power imbalances among stakeholders.In this context, blockchain-based decentralised surveys, leveraging the immutability, transparency, and pseudo-anonymity of blockchain technology, offer significant improvements in aligning responsive actions with employees’ feedback securely and transparently. Nevertheless, their implementation raises complex issues regarding the balance between trust and confidence. While blockchain can function as a confidence machine for data processing and management, it does not inherently address the equally important cultural element of trust. To effectively integrate blockchain technology into wellbeing assessments, decentralised wellbeing surveys must be supported by cultural practices that build and sustain trust. Drawing on blockchain technology and relational cultural theory, we explain how trust-building can be achieved through the co-production of decentralised wellbeing surveys, which helps address power imbalances between the implementation team and stakeholders. Our goal is to provide a dual cultural-technological framework along with conceptual clarity on how the technological implementation of confidence can connect with the cultural development of trust, ensuring that blockchain-based decentralised wellbeing surveys are not only secure and reliable but also perceived as trustworthy vector to improve workplace conditions.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1564073</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1564073</link>
        <title><![CDATA[The ReFi movement in Web3: implications for the Global Commons]]></title>
        <pubdate>2025-03-21T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Perspective</category>
        <author>Kate Bennett</author>
        <description><![CDATA[‘ReFi’ is a rapidly emerging movement in the web3 space that seeks to leverage blockchain technology and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to deliver positive real-world impact. While ReFi is short for regenerative finance, regenerative practitioners query the regenerative claims of the movement. This perspective article explains why the regenerative claims of the ReFi movement are under scrutiny and highlights the implications for the Global Commons if the movement does not adhere to regenerative principles. Given that ReFi is a blockchain-enabled movement, the impact of ReFi on the Global Commons is implicitly a blockchain-related concern. This article provides a regenerative practitioner’s perspective on the ReFi movement as a point of reference for blockchain practitioners in the ReFi movement seeking to be a force for good. Long-standing research in ecological economics highlights the negative impacts of over-financialization and commoditization on the natural world. Given that blockchain technology enables more of the world’s natural assets to become commoditized, securitized, and collateralized than ever before, the article asserts that DeFi’s drive to financialize everything could make the Global Commons the next, and final, commodity frontier. It also asserts that the ReFi movement has the potential to reverse this trend if it can genuinely adhere to the regenerative paradigm.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2024.1440355</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2024.1440355</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Blockchain solutions for generative AI challenges in journalism]]></title>
        <pubdate>2024-11-27T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Malin Picha Edwardsson</author><author>Walid Al-Saqaf</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This study aims to identify and assess AI and blockchain solutions in relation to journalistic authenticity and integrity. Central to our exploration is the role of blockchain technology in verifying content provenance. As a key component of a global Web3 framework, blockchain could offer a foundation for authenticating the origins of content. In this article, we explore how blockchain, with its capacity for creating immutable and cryptographically signed data records, could be applied by journalists to verify photos, videos and documents. Our analysis identified nine blockchain-based solutions for content verification, with three platforms–Attestiv, OriginStamp, and Fact Protocol–showing particular promise for journalistic workflows. We conclude that while AI and blockchain solutions are currently available to journalists today, they require high-level technical expertise. Many media companies are now venturing into this field as well, thus affecting the professional role of journalists in general. In our study, it is evident that integrating AI and blockchain in journalism is not merely about adopting new tools but also about understanding their broader implications for journalism as a profession and the convergence in society. The focus must remain on enhancing journalistic integrity and public trust to ensure that these technological advances benefit the field of journalism and, by extension, the democratic processes it supports.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2024.1434503</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2024.1434503</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Corrigendum: Decentralized justice: state of the art, recurring criticisms and next-generation research topics]]></title>
        <pubdate>2024-08-21T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Correction</category>
        <author>Federico Ast</author><author>William George</author><author>Jamilya Kamalova</author><author>Abeer Sharma</author><author>Yann Aouidef</author>
        <description></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1287249</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1287249</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Decentralized autonomous organization design for the commons and the common good]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-12-07T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Paul Van Vulpen</author><author>Slinger Jansen</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The current internet economy is characterised by a historically unprecedented bundling of private sector power over infrastructures. This situation is harmful for overcoming problems where collective action is needed, such as for governing digital commons. Organisations that run on collectively owned decentralised infrastructure are able to overcome this centralisation of power. These common decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) could help in fostering digitally enabled collective action. However, currently we have no clear view of how a DAO designed for commons governance would operate and be governed. By creating a conceptual prototype of a DAO governing a common, we provide a clear path of how common DAOs should mature and which tools are needed to create them. In this research, we created a governance framework for common DAOs by combining 16 works on technology for commons governance. The framework reveals that common DAO governance consists of three areas: 1) Governance structure, 2) Enabling technology, and 3) Community governance. We provide governance mechanisms that together describe an implementation of Ostrom’s common governance principles in a DAO. This work is a synthesis of previous research on technology for collective action. The proposed framework aids in standardising DAO governance for the common good and may contribute to a large scale roll-out of commons DAOs.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1273314</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1273314</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Provenance blockchain for ensuring IT security in cloud manufacturing]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-11-09T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Mifta Ahmed Umer</author><author>Luis Borges Gouveia</author><author>Elefelious Getachew Belay</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Provenance blockchain is an evolving concept for protection of production, logistics, and supply chain networks from rogue Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices. Such rogue IIoT devices are a recognized threat in the cloud manufacturing networks. In extreme cases, they can be used to cause industrial accidents. A brief version of provenance is about end-to-end tracking and tracing of data and the nodes involved in creating, modifying, transmitting, storing, and deleting it at specific times and locations. It provides an end-to-end verifiable and controlled computation for ensuring trustworthiness, quality, reliability, and validity of data. Provenance has existed in computing using logging software systems. This research is focused on threats to food supply chains between two countries. A scenario for protecting food supply chain from India to UAE has been modeled. This research recognized the threat of harmful food items getting mixed with flow of genuine products in a supply chain. The IIoT devices used to control the flow can be authenticated using the evolving provenance blockchain technology. With the help of recent design recommendations in the literature, a model design has been created and simulated in this research. Observations from the simulation revealed that TCP congestions and unpredictable turnaround time for assigning cryptographic keys to IIoT device sessions may have to be explored in future. A collaborative design between the two nations has been proposed. All IIoT devices not supporting cryptography will be eliminated from the cloud manufacturing and supply chain networks. Currently, this design may be used for one time registration only. Future studies may provide improved versions in which, repeated authentication and keys replacements may be implemented.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1204090</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1204090</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Decentralized justice: state of the art, recurring criticisms and next-generation research topics]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-10-09T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Federico Ast</author><author>William George</author><author>Jamilya Kamalova</author><author>Abeer Sharma</author><author>Yann Aouidef</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Decentralized justice is a novel approach to online dispute resolution based on blockchain, crowdsourcing and game theory for adjudicating claims in a neutral and efficient way. Since the launch of the first decentralized justice platform in 2018, the field has attracted wide interest both from practitioners and academics in Web3 and dispute resolution. The decentralized justice approach is based on the ideas of decentralization, economic incentives and a claim to fairness in its decisions. At the current stage of development, decentralized justice is facing a number of technical, market, legal and ethical challenges for further development. This paper provides a review of the short history of decentralized justice, addresses a number of recurrent topics and lays down a path for future exploration.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1148315</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1148315</link>
        <title><![CDATA[How Chinese fintech threatens US Dollar hegemony]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-09-29T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Perspective</category>
        <author>Jayanth Tharappel</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This article will argue that the development of Chinese financial technology, or ‘fintech’, over the past decade, is primarily motivated to safeguard Chinese monetary sovereignty, which is threatened by the proliferation of non-state cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, that have exacerbated the problem of capital flight, not only for China, but for other non-Western countries that have lost fortunes to outflows seeking access Western financial assets. This raises the question, how is China responding to the emergence of cryptocurrencies as a development that reinforces US financial hegemony? The answer to be explored by this paper is by embracing elements of cryptocurrency technology in the form of digital payment systems and blockchain technology. These Chinese fintech developments pose a serious unprecedented challenge to the financial hegemony of the US insofar as it compels other countries to copy the Chinese response because they desire the tools to limit illegal outflows of capital that have historically propped up the US Dollar.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1109544</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1109544</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Algorithmic governance, code as law, and the blockchain common: Power relations in the blockchain-based society]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-08-01T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Perspective</category>
        <author>Krystyna Kozak</author>
        <description><![CDATA[“Code is law” became a buzz term in Web3 and blockchain reality. Despite the term being already used much earlier by Lawrence Lessig in the year 2000 in his book titled “Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace,” when the internet and Web2 were emerging, the rise of smart contracts and complex algorithmic power made the term genuinely resonate with the (idealised) Web3 reality. The entrainment of technological solutionism in the brains of members of society gives an impression that a world governed by algorithms will be a fairer one. However, research has shown that many members of society are not standard statistical representations of the majority and whilst algorithmic governance leaves room for “standard deviation,” individuals that fall outside this standard deviation are, in fact, very disadvantaged. There are numerous research papers as well as popular science books that address the issue of algorithmic bias and unfairness in Web 2. The proponents of blockchain and web3 technology argue that with a DAO-governed, decentralised society, problems of biased algorithmic governance are solved as power and decision-making are decentralised, and members use their governance tokens to collectively decide on the law encoded in the smart contracts that are the ultimate law enforcement apparatus. Web3 promises a shift of power from governments and corporations to people and token holders, arguing it will make a Web3-governed society fairer. This paper is based on decoding this promise and using Althusser’s model of a state apparatus to show how the power relations changed in Web2 and Web3 realities. It shows that Web3 promises of the code becoming the law were already present in the Web2 discourse and discovers a model of an ideological apparatus power struggle between states and Web2 giants. Next, the power relations in the blockchain society are researched, starting from the idealised model of decentralised, token-holder governed power, which regulates the governments and corporations, to a discussion on what the actual power relations and struggles might result from encoding the law in the smart contract. Research shows that in Web3, “code is law” society. There will be power struggles and opposition on a vertical and horizontal level. The vertical struggle is the power enforcement (originally in the hands of the state in Althusser’s (1970) model between the code and individuals, governments and corporations not willing to conform with the code-enforced law or falling outside the standard deviation of statistics-based AI algorithms hence being disadvantaged by the smart contract enforced laws. The horizontal power struggle is based on what Althusser describes as the ideological apparatus. Here, the struggle is based on a fight between individuals (the society), corporations, and the state for code-modifying resources and/or leverage over the governance token holders. Overall, the paper argues and shows that blockchain-based “code is law” reality does not solve the issue of unequal power relations within societies but only as any technological revolution shifts the power relations and power struggles between existing and new actors. Unlike the founder of Polkadot, Gavin Wood states that blockchain, DAOs, smart contracts, and Web3 overall do not result in the new social sphere with revolutionised power relations. Where Web3 is now is much more similar to where Web1 and Web2 were 25–30 years ago—Creating a new space for social interactions and discourse yet being stuck within the same social sphere and uneven power relations that have governed our societies for centuries.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1160257</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1160257</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Blockchain financialization, neo-colonialism, and Binance]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-07-27T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Olivier Jutel</author>
        <description><![CDATA[This article will look at the financial geographies and legacies of neo-colonialism to critique the emergence of blockchain financialization in the developing world. Blockchain “financialization” advances through the interplay of crypto imaginaries, new platform economies, and the trading infrastructure for highly leveraged financial products. The largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has presented itself as a champion of the blockchain for development paradigm in Africa. Its success in the region relies on the use of community leaders, hackathons, and the lobbying of governments for regulatory concessions. Binance operates on two scales. Firstly, it is part of a fintech vanguard attempting to dismantle New Deal financial regulatory systems in the Global North (Omarova, Yale Journal on Regulation, 2019, 36, 735–793; Allen, H, DeFi: Shadow Banking 2.0?, 2022). Secondly, it as an agent of financialization in the developing world, promoting DeFi to map the speculative micro-financial practices of the Global South. Crypto and blockchain thus represent extensions of “subprime empire” (Schuster, Current Anthropology, 2021, 62, 389–411) in which marginal economic activities in fragile developing world contexts feed into the North-South extraction of value. This article will outline Binance’s forays into Nigeria as an example of the micro and macro scales of neocolonial finance and the interplay of infrastructure, territory, and the social imaginary in blockchain.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1165133</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1165133</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Blockchain and regenerative finance: charting a path toward regeneration]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-07-05T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Marco Schletz</author><author>Axel Constant</author><author>Angel Hsu</author><author>Simon Schillebeeckx</author><author>Roman Beck</author><author>Martin Wainstein</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The Regenerative Finance (ReFi) movement aims to fundamentally transform the governance of global common pool resources (CPRs), such as the atmosphere, which are being degraded despite international efforts. The ReFi movement seeks to achieve this by utilizing digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (D-MRV); tokenization of assets; and decentralized governance approaches. However, there is currently a lack of a clear path forward to create and implement models that actually drive the “Re-” in ReFi beyond perpetuating the existing extractive economics and toward actual regeneration. In addition, ReFi suffers from growing pains, lacking a common interoperability framework and definition for determining what a ReFi project is and how the individual components align toward the grand ambition. This paper provides a definition of the ReFi stack of interconnected components and examines how it can address limitations in climate change accounting, finance and markets, and governance. The authors also examine the theory of regenerative economics and CPRs to encourage further discussions and advancements in the ReFi space. The crucial question remains if and how ReFi can drive a change in paradigm toward the effective regeneration of global CPRs.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1053555</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2023.1053555</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Mitigating bureaucratic inefficiencies through blockchain technology in Africa]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-01-18T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Review</category>
        <author>Elvin Shava</author><author>David Mhlanga</author>
        <description><![CDATA[With the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) wave engulfing African governments, the need to do, and use something new has already infiltrated many public sector organizations. While modern technologies are being embraced in the private sector, African governments are emulating new technologies and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to advance their economies while managing the risk that these sophisticated technologies can trigger. Blockchain technology is one of the emerging 4IR technology that is believed to have the capacity to mitigate bureaucratic inefficiencies, although scholars argue implementing such comes at a higher price. To understand how blockchain can help reduce inefficiencies in African bureaucracy, the researchers employed the systematic literature review analysis where documents from various databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were systematically sampled depending on how they offer meaningful data concerning blockchain implementation. The analyses of these secondary sources revealed multiple challenges and opportunities associated with blockchain technology in the African government. The challenges include poor project management, weak institutions that do not uphold accountability and transparency in data entry using blockchain, unavailability of blockchain infrastructure, risk-averse attitude, and absence of institutional readiness. By implementing enabling technology policies in government, the study revealed that blockchain could help improve taxation in African bureaucracies and mitigate data altering and errors while maximizing efficiency. Further merits in public healthcare and education can be realized by using blockchain technology. The conclusions drawn from this study have shown that for African bureaucracy to thrive using blockchain technology, there is a need to prepare public sector institutions to embrace blockchain technology. At the same time, investment in soft and technical skills remains fundamental to mitigate inefficiencies in public service provision. Institutional readiness is another deterrent to blockchain technology as public administration regard this technology as demanding since it may require change, and management where institutions and structures are reshuffled to respond to the demands of blockchain technology in the delivery of public goods.]]></description>
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        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2022.1083647</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2022.1083647</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Reputation-based Decentralized Autonomous Organization for the non-profit sector: Leveraging blockchain to enhance good governance]]></title>
        <pubdate>2023-01-11T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Yoshiro Saito</author><author>John A. Rose</author>
        <description><![CDATA[The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), a group organized by governance rules programmed on a blockchain, has recently been attracting attention as a novel organizational form. The effectiveness of a DAO’s decentralized governance mechanism and transparency, as secured by its code, has generally been discussed in contrast with traditional stock companies. However, the potential of a DAO for non-profits, which provide goods and services that profit-seeking organizations do not offer, has been less discussed. This paper presents a proof-of-concept implementation to demonstrate the advantages of utilizing a DAO governance framework for non-profits. To this end, this study developed a DAO governance framework incorporating a reputation-based decision-making system, a peer evaluation system, and a transparent, real-time accounting system for the Ethereum blockchain. Most current decentralized governance systems rely heavily on token-based voting using governance tokens with stock-like features. However, there is a need for a voting mechanism beyond token-based voting for non-profits, which do not have owners. Therefore, the developed application applies an existing reputation-based voting mechanism and integrates additional features, such as a membership system with mutual evaluation and a reputation NFT to visualize contributions. Several exemplar demonstrations were conducted to evaluate its key functionalities. This application enabled discussions across the boundary between technology and society in terms of the key aspects of non-profits: i) transparency of finance and governance, ii) participatory governance by diverse stakeholders, and iii) equity and inclusiveness of the consensus mechanism. The results indicated that blockchain technology compensates for a non-profit’s vulnerabilities, and illustrated that the proposed reputation-based governance mechanisms are well-motivated. However, the results also revealed that blockchain-based governance involves as many potential risks and limitations as it brings benefits. Lastly, by providing several possible solutions to these constraints as well as recommendations for future research, this paper contributes to the sustainable development of non-profits as one of the foundations of democratic governance.]]></description>
      </item><item>
        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2022.955463</guid>
        <link>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2022.955463</link>
        <title><![CDATA[Coffee producers’ perspectives of blockchain technology in the context of sustainable global value chains]]></title>
        <pubdate>2022-12-22T00:00:00Z</pubdate>
        <category>Original Research</category>
        <author>Christina Singh</author><author>Aleksandra N. Wojewska</author><author>U. Martin Persson</author><author>Simon L. Bager</author>
        <description><![CDATA[Transparency and equitability are key for improved sustainability outcomes in global value chains. Blockchain technology has been touted as a tool for achieving these ends. However, due to the limited empirical evidence, claims on transparency and sustainability benefits are largely theoretical. We lack an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks for upstream actors within global value chains and how this affects technology adoption. Addressing this gap, we conduct an empirical study to identify the drivers and obstacles for coffee producers in Colombia in adopting blockchain. We base our research on an event-driven and permissioned blockchain model, specifically designed for this research. Applying the Participation Capacity Framework and conducting semi-structured interviews with coffee producers and key informants, we analyze adoption attitudes towards the blockchain application. We further identify opportunities and drawbacks from the producers’ perspective. We set these findings in the context of the Global Value Chain research, considering the existing power relations in the coffee value chain. The top-down nature of blockchain projects raises distributive concerns, as resource investments, implementation burden, and risks are significantly higher upstream, whereas downstream lead firms will benefit most. We identify data squeeze as an additional channel of sustainable supplier squeeze relevant in the case of blockchain initiatives. Data squeeze implies lead firms turning the data obtained through, likely unpaid, labour of blockchain participants into a monetizable assets and marketable value through branding and advertisement. Based on the findings, we identify potential design dimensions and implementation features that can contribute to materializing producer benefits, thus mitigating the risk of a sustainability-driven supplier squeeze.]]></description>
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