The work here presented moves from the acknowledgment that, even if blockchain technology has been around for more than ten years, the knowledge about its economic and business implications is fragmented and heterogeneous. In the first place, it is analyzed the shift from economics to tokenomics and the central role of the token within blockchain-based ecosystems. Subsequently, a generalized definition of the token is proposed. Diving into the requirements for a comprehensive description of tokens, that takes into account their wide variety, a comparative assessment of token classification frameworks available in the literature is performed. This analysis is leveraged to propose a new and comprehensive token classification framework, based on a morphological analysis representation. The proposed framework will be further refined with an empirical and iterative approach in future works.
This paper explores the transition towards a paradigm in which centralization and decentralization systems coexist in the provision of financial services. The blockchain technology application to the financial industry is giving birth to Decentralized Finance (DeFi). The transition is studied through a cross-chain analysis that allows to compare different blockchain ecosystems characterized by diverse evolution courses. The results show a path dependency linked to the first-mover advantage of the Ethereum blockchain. The analysis also highlights the emergence of new players that propose higher scalability opportunities (e.g., Eos, Tezos) and different design choices in terms of governance. This exploratory study also emphasizes the potential complementarity between the standard financial system and DeFi, discussing the main differences among the financial services provided on-chain and off-chain.
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