Business Transformation Through Blockchain: Volume I

Edited by Horst Treiblmaier · Roman Beck Business Transformation through Blockchain Volume I Business Transformation through Blockchain Horst Treiblmaier  •  Roman Beck Editors Business Transformation through Blockchain Volume I Editors Horst Treiblmaier Department of International Management MODUL University Vienna Vienna, Austria Roman Beck Head of European Blockchain Center IT University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark ISBN 978-3-319-98910-5    ISBN 978-3-319-98911-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98911-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018959421 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface Volume I The blockchain and related technologies have taken many academic communities by surprise. Its technological foundations were developed over various decades but were mainly discussed in communities specialized in computer science and cryptography. Even the 2008 seminal publication from the pseudonymous author Satoshi Nakamoto entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” failed to attract immediate attention within the industry, the general public and in most academic communities. In this nine-page paper with an unassuming title, Nakamoto, whose real identity has yet not been revealed, combined various existing technologies and was able to solve the so-called double-­spending problem by clever engineering. The result was the first cryptocurrency, a monetary system that should not have been able to survive, if one believes many economic theorists. Yet, over the years, the general public began to take notice, and Bitcoin was able to bootstrap itself into a currency in which people invested fiat money. In parallel to the soaring exchange rat