Blockchain technology emerged in 2009 together with the introduction of Bitcoin, the first virtual currency which enabled nodes in a network, that do not necessarily trust each other, to exchange digital value without the use of trusted intermediaries. Since then, the idea of disintermediation and decentralization has gained traction in a large number of applications outside the world of finance and virtual currencies. This thesis is written in collaboration with Scania, an automotive industry manufacturer, with the purpose of gaining a better understanding of blockchain technology and how it can be used in the transportation industry. This thesis proposes five potential blockchain use cases that aim to either enhance Scania’s existing services or to create new services. Out of these five use cases, one is deemed inappropriate in regards to the use of blockchain technology while the other four have potentials benefits. The common denominator among these use cases is that they are decentralized in nature meaning that the use of intermediaries is mitigated. It is recognized that all use cases could be implemented using traditional, centralized databases and that the use of blockchain boils down to a technology choice with its own trade-offs relative to other potential choices. This thesis concludes that blockchain technology offers a new kind of database architecture, the main benefit of which is that it lets several non-trusting entities agree on a common set of facts, without having a trusted intermediary establishing these facts.

Pengar har under en lång tid spelat en central roll i människans samhälle och dagens samhälle präglas av allt mer handel. Utifrån detta har nya betalningsmetoder utvecklats. En förändring i konsumentbeteendet har bidragit till att allt fler individer väljer elektroniska betalningstjänster. En relativt ny innovation är kryptovalutan bitcoin som erbjuder betalning mellan köpare och säljare utan inblandning av en tredje part. Ett flertal studier har gjorts med syftet att fastställa om bitcoin är en valuta eller en tillgång, något som visat sig vara svårt. Något som varit tydligare är att bitcoins värdeförändringar inte tycks vara korrelerad med andra investeringsalternativ. I en studie av Brière et al. (2015) drogs slutsatsen att bitcoin är en intressant tillgång för en investerare tack vare bitcoins låga korrelationskoefficient med andra tillgångar. Denna studie grundar sig i de teoretiska utgångspunkterna om Famas (1970) hypotes om den effektiva marknaden, Markowitz (1952) moderna portföljteori och Rogers (2003) teori om spridning av innovationer. Med detta som utgångspunkt är syftet med denna studie att undersöka hur korrelationskoefficienten mellan bitcoin och traditionella investeringstillgångar som aktier, valutor och råvaror ser ut idag samt hur dessa har förändrats över tid. Med hjälp av Famas (1970) teori om effektiva marknader och Rogers (2003) teori om spridning av innovationer kommer en diskussion om huruvida bitcoins egenskaper som investering i den moderna portföljen har förändrats i takt med att bitcoin blivit mer använd, både som betalningsmedel och investeringsalternativ. För att besvara dessa frågor undersöks korrelationskoefficienterna mellan bitcoin och elva andra tillgångar i kombination med en analys av en deskriptiv statistik. Med en undersökningsperiod som sträcker sig från 18 augusti 2011 till 17 mars 2017. Denna period har även delats upp i mindre tidsperioder för att utifrån detta analysera om det skett några förändringar i korrelationen mellan bitcoin och de traditionella tillgångarna i studien. Resultatet visade att bitcoin inte är korrelerad med andra traditionella tillgångar, oavsett vilken tidsperiod som undersöks. Det visade sig att bitcoin i förhållande till andra tillgångar är en riskfylld investering på grund av bland annat en hög volatilitet. Dock kompenseras detta av bitcoins höga årlig avkastning. Av resultatet framgår det även att volatiliteten för bitcoin har minskat med tiden och att kryptovalutan inte är lika riskfylld idag jämfört med tidigare.

This thesis aims to completely map the problem of new forms of money, called cryptocurrency. It explains the economic principles of functioning these decentralized currencies, particularly emitting (the mining), amount of fees and functioning of the payment system. The work is focused on the currency Bitcoin, for which it describes in detail its origin and development, possibility of simultaneous use (in many examples) as well as possible future scenarios of these currencies. In conclusion, the work describes role of Bitcoin in the current banking system and risks of the Bitcoin.

The main objective of this diploma thesis is to find out the potential of digital currencies to replace contemporary fiat currency. Specifically, the thesis is focused on cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which currently has the highest market value. The thesis is divided into three main chapters. The first one focuses on money itself and its function, not only today but also throughout the history. Second chapter explains substance and functioning of Bitcoin, as well as its role in the current monetary system. Likewise the question of regulatory measures and competition of altcoins is being examined. Final part analyses the future of digital currencies and it compares pros and cons of Bitcoin and money we use today. Furthermore, it is discussed whether Bitcoin is the next bubble in the financial market. In the end, main problems which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies deal with are mentioned and a possible future development is outlined.

Bitcoin är en teknologi som etableras allt mer i samhället. Med dess ökade etablering i åtanke, ämnar denna studie undersöka hur acceptans av Bitcoin kan studeras. Studien föreslår ett teoretiskt ramverk, baserat på Technology Acceptance Model och utökat med finansiell och social risk, och testar detta ramverk på ett bekvämlighetsurval av svenska privatpersoner. För att testa relevansen av de relationer som tillsammans utgör det teoretiska ramverket användes strukturell ekvationsmodellering. Studien fann att det teoretiska ramverket kan användas för att analysera urvalets acceptans av bitcoin med måttlig förklaringskraft, men kunde inte bekräfta att uppfattad användarvänlighet och uppfattad social risk har en signifikant påverkan på attityden till teknologin Bitcoin. Studiens slutsats kan sammanfattas med att det föreslagna ramverket är användbart vid analys av acceptans av Bitcoin, men att bekvämlighetsurvalet inte tillåter studien att göra några generaliseringar till en större population.

In “web-based scams”, scam websites provide fraudulent business or fake services to steal money and sensitive information from unsuspecting victims. Despite the researchers’ efforts to develop anti-scam detection techniques, the scams continue to evolve and cause online threats. State-of-the-art anti-scam research still faces several challenges, such as automatically acquiring a labeled scam dataset and providing early detection and prevention mechanisms to attacks that use cryptocurrency as a payment medium. In this thesis, we implement a data-driven model to detect and track web-based scams with a web presence. Given a few scam samples, our model formulates scam-related search queries and uses them on multiple search engines to collect data about the websites to which victims are directed when they search online for sites that may be related to the scam. After collecting a sufficient corpus of web pages, our model semi-automatically clusters the search results and creates a labeled training dataset with minimal human interaction. Our model proactively looks for scam pages and monitors their evolution over time rather than waiting for the scam to be reported. Whenever a new scam instance is detected, the model sends it automatically to the eCrime eXchange data warehouse in real-time. We have used the model to investigate and gain knowledge on two scams; the “Game Hack” Scam (GHS) and the “Bitcoin Generator Scam” (BGS). To the best of our knowledge, GHS and BGS have not been well studied so far, and this is the first systematic study of both scams. GHS targets game players, in which the attackers attempt to convince victims that they will be provided with free in-game advantages for their favorite game. Before claiming these advantages, the victims are supposed to complete one or more tasks, such as filling out “market research” forms and installing suspicious executable files on their machines. Over a year of crawling, we uncovered more than 5,900 unique domains. We estimate that these domains have been accessed at least 150 million times from 2014 until 2019. BGS is a simple system in which the scammers promise to “generate” new bitcoins using the ones sent to them. BGS is not a very sophisticated attack; the modus operandi is to put up some web page that contains the address to send the money and wait for the payback. Over 21 months of crawling, we found more than 3,000 addresses directly associated with the scam, hosted on over 1,200 domains. Overall, these addresses have received (at least) over 9.6 million USD. Our analysis showed that a small group of scammers controls the majority of the received funds. The top two groups have received around 6 million USD, which is more than half of the total funds received by the scam addresses.

This thesis focuses on automated trading on cryptocurrency exchanges. Cryptos are now widespread. The possibility of hier automated buying and selling is an interesting topic, which is more and more mentioned. The main part of the thesis is the design of an algorithm for processing data from stock exchanges, their evaluation and subsequent execution of cryptocurrency trades. It also describes its implementation, testing and possible further extensions.

The cryptocurrencies are growing more and more popular, both due to their independency on institutions and the feeling of anonymity they provide. This is, however, also accompanied by an increasing number of their abuse for criminal activities. This thesis explores the principles of current cryptocurrencies as well as techniques used for increasing anonymity of their usage. Based on the findings, it proposes a solution attemping to deanonymise activity in select cryptocurrencies.

This master's thesis focuses on the subject Management of free capital inside the cryptocurrency market. First, selected cryptocurrencies are briefly described. Subsequently, their historical data are analysed. Finally, based on these findings, an appropriate strategy for the chosen company is formulated.

This student paper discusses principals of data collecting and subsequent analysis of data on digital currency exchanges followed by proposition and full implementation of research oriented system capable of solving all relevant tasks and presenting a way for implementing solutions for broad spectrum of related problems.