Gaming is booming, and over the past few years, blockchain games have found their way into this market. These games operate in a highly competitive environment, where marketing is vitally important for their success. This study, commissioned by Crypto Rogue Games, aimed to explore social media marketing activities to promote their blockchain game, Crystals of Naramunz. Given this purpose, an analysis of competing developers' activities on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram was conducted. Additionally, interviews were performed with a sample of the gaming community. The interviews also explored attitudes toward an experience with blockchain gaming. Essentially, the study indicated that Twitter is the most effective platform to target the audience. On this platform, sharing a variety of content, such as artwork, news, and game graphics, was shown to be most engaging. In addition, it was important to communicate in a creative, personalized, and interactive manner. The interviews also indicated that attitudes toward and experience with blockchain must be considered in the marketing efforts. However, as the study was limited, additional research is required to draw more detailed conclusions and to generalize these findings. / Intresset för videospel ökar, och under de senaste åren har spel baserade på blockchain hittat sin väg till denna marknad. I denna hårt konkurrensutsatta bransch är marknadsföring viktigt för att lyckas. Denna studie genomfördes i samarbete med Crypto Rogue Games. Syftet med studien var att undersöka möjligheten för marknadsföring av deras blockchain-baserade spel, Crystals of Naramunz, på sociala medier. Utifrån detta syfte genomfördes en analys av konkurrerande aktörers aktivitet på Twitter, Facebook och Instagram. Dessutom utfördes intervjuer med ett urval spelare. Dessa intervjuer undersökte även attityder till och erfarenhet av blockchainspel. Studien indikerade att Twitter är den mest effektiva plattformen för att fånga publikens intresse. På denna plattform skapade en variation av visuellt material, nyheter och spelgrafik högst engagemang. Att dela kreativt, personligt och interaktivt innehåll visade sig även vara viktigt. Vidare indikerar intervjuerna att marknadsföringen behöver ha spelarnas attityder till och erfarenhet av blockchain i åtanke. Eftersom studien var begränsad krävs det dock ytterligare forskning för att dra mer detaljerade slutsatser och generalisera resultatet.

As consumer payment services have been developed at a rapid rate in recent years, the introduction to the market of decentralised, non-regulated cryptocurrencies has enabled a significant increase in acts of criminality in the cyber environment. Efforts to combat and curb the continued growth of such illicit activities have included the development, implementation and enforcement of legislation and regulations by governing authorities on a global scale. For the purpose of this thesis, interviews were conducted with several industry experts and governmental officials specializing in the use of virtual currencies for illicit financial transactions, namely fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. While the extent to which decentralised, non-regulated payment services actually contributes to illicit financial transactions remains unclear, it can certainly be said that as the use of new and emerging virtual currencies increases, so too will acts of criminality in the cyber world.

The rise of cryptocurrencies has brought with it new math problems with new sets of constraints. The MEV problem entails solving for the ordering of pending trades that maximizes a block creator's profit. In decentralized finance, time is a big constraint, so an exhaustive search of all possible orderings is impossible. I propose a solution to the MEV problem that gives a near optimal result that can be solved in a reasonable amount of time. I layout the method and the formulas required for my solution. Additionally, I test my solution on synthesized data to show that it works as desired.

В магистерской диссертации из английских оригинальных текстов и их русскоязычных переводов за 2022–2023 гг. на сайтах трех крупнейших криптовалютных бирж – Binance, Coinbase Exchange и Bybit осуществлен сопоставительный анализ субстантивных атрибутивных групп вида N1+N2+...+Nn с их русскоязычными соответствиями. Показано, что с ростом числа компонентов такого именного словосочетания уменьшается встречаемость каждой модели. / This master’s thesis is based on the English source texts and their Russian translations (2022–2023) from the websites of the three largest cryptocurrency exchanges – Binance, Coinbase Exchange and Bybit. There is carried out a comparative analysis of substantive attribute groups N1+N2+...+Nn with their Russian equivalents. The growth of the number of components in such a nominative phrase is shown to cause the decrease of each model of translation.

Объектом исследования являются блокчейн-технологии и децентрализованные сервисы. В данном исследовании предлагается разработать децентрализованное приложение для проведения лотерей. Исследование проводится с целью изучения блокчейн-технологий. Для разработки децентрализованного приложения использовался блокчейн Ethereum. В результате был разработан смарт-контракт для проведения лотерей, а также веб-интерфейс для взаимодействия с ним, образующие децентрализованное приложение. / The object of research is blockchain technologies and decentralized services. In this study, it is proposed to develop a decentralized application for conducting lotteries. The research is conducted in order to study blockchain technologies. The Ethereum blockchain was used to develop a decentralized application. As a result, a smart contract for conducting lotteries was developed, as well as a web interface for interacting with it, forming a decentralized application.

Объектом исследования данной работы являются методы проектирования информационной архитектуры баз знаний. Основным методом проектирования является архитектурный метод. Также в данном исследовании использовался графический и макетно-графический метод для создания схем, описывающий разные уровни информационной архитектуры и макетов для визуальной демонстрации интерфейса системы. Предметом исследования является информационная архитектура базы знаний, использующаяся в организации. Данное исследование заключается в проработке гипотезы о том, что при использовании сотрудниками базы знаний, на кафедре института значительно сократится время на поиск, актуализацию, пополнение и обеспечение хранения рабочей и отчетной документации. Данное исследование представляет собой обобщение теоретико- и практико- ориентированной работы в области проектирования информационных систем оптимизации рабочего времени педагогического состава, которая может быть использована для повышения качества деятельности образовательного учреждения. Первичными данными является перечень методов и способов проектирования информационной архитектуры. Также для описания взаимодействия информационных систем с организацией использовались данные о кафедре в состоянии «как есть», то есть о функциях, структуре и времени, затрачиваемом на рабочие процессы, на основе которых была составлена модель AS-IS. В результате была составлена архитектура адаптивной базы знаний, которая может использоваться для повышения эффективности процессов на кафедре института. Анализ процессов, осуществляемых с использованием базы знаний и календарного планировщика и без их использования, подтвердил гипотезу о пользе внедрения новых информационных систем в образовательное учреждение. Также была предложена адаптация внедрения данных систем в информационную систему института с помощью бесплатных инструментов. / The object of research of this work is the methods of designing the information architecture of knowledge bases. The main method of design is the architectural method. Also in this study, a graphical and layout-graphical method was used to create diagrams describing different levels of information architecture and layouts for visual demonstration of the system interface. The subject of the study is the information architecture of the knowledge base used in the organization. This study consists in working out the hypothesis that when employees use the knowledge base, the time for searching, updating, replenishment and storage of working and reporting documentation will be significantly reduced at the department of the Institute. This study is a generalization of theoretical and practice-oriented work in the field of designing information systems for optimizing the working hours of teaching staff, which can be used to improve the quality of the educational institution. The primary data is a list of methods and methods for designing information architecture. Also, to describe the interaction of information systems with the organization, data was used about the department in the "as is" state, that is, about the functions, structure and time spent on work processes, on the basis of which the AS-IS model was compiled. As a result, the architecture of an adaptive knowledge base was compiled, which can be used to improve the efficiency of processes at the department of the Institute. The analysis of the processes carried out using the knowledge base and calendar planner and without their use confirmed the hypothesis about the benefits of introducing new information systems in an educational institution. It was also proposed to adapt the implementation of these systems into the information system of the Institute using free tools.

In 2018, Europol (2018) estimated that more than $22 billion dollars were laundered in Europe by using cryptocurrencies. The Financial Action Task Force explains that moneylaunderers may exchange their illicitly gained fiat-money for crypto, launder that crypto by distributing the funds to multiple accounts and then re-exchange the crypto back to fiat-currency. This process of exchanging currencies is done through a cryptocurrency exchange, giving the exchange an ideal position to prevent money laundering from happening as it acts as middleman (FATF, 2021). However, current AML efforts at these exchanges have shown to be outdated and need to be improved. Furthermore, Weber et al. (2019) argue that machine learning could be used for this endeavor. The study's purpose is to investigate how machine learning can be used to combat money laundering activities performed using cryptocurrency. This is done by exploring what machine learning algorithms are suitable for this purpose. In addition, the study further seeks to understand the applicability of the investigated algorithms by exploring their fit at cryptocurrency exchanges. To answer the research question, four supervised-learning algorithms are compared by using the Bitcoin Elliptic Dataset. Moreover, with the objective of quantitively understanding the algorithmic performance differences, three key evaluation metrics are used: F1-score, precision and recall. Then, in order to understand the investigated algorithms applicability, two complementary qualitative interviews are performed at Swedish cryptocurrency exchanges. The study cannot conclude if there is a most suitable algorithm for detecting transactions related to money-laundering. However, the applicability of the decision tree algorithm seems to be more promising at Swedish cryptocurrency exchanges, compared to the other three algorithms. / Europol (2018) uppskattade år 2018, att mer än 22 miljarder USD tvättades i Europa genom användning av kryptovalutor. Financial Action Task Force förklarar att penningtvättare kan byta deras olagligt förvärvade fiat-valutor mot kryptovaluta, tvätta kryptovalutan genom att fördela tillgångarna till ett flertal konton och sedan återväxla kryptovalutan tillbaka till fiat-valuta. Denna process, att växla valutor, görs genom en kryptovalutaväxlare, vilket ger växlaren en ideal position för att förhindra att tvättning sker eftersom de agerar som mellanhänder (FATF, 2021). Dock har de aktuella AMLansträngningarna vid dessa växlare visat sig vara föråldrade och i behov av förbättring. Dessutom hävdar Weber et al. (2019) att maskininlärning skulle kunna användas i denna strävan. Denna studies syfte är att undersöka hur maskininlärning kan användas för att bekämpa penningtvättaktiviteter där kryptovaluta används. Detta görs genom att utforska vilka maskininlärningsalgoritmer som är användbara för detta ändamål. Dessutom strävar undersökningen till att ge förståelse för tillämpligheten hos de undersökta algoritmerna genom att utforska deras lämplighet hos kryptovalutaväxlare. För att besvara frågeställningen har fyra supervised-learning algoritmer jämförts genom att använda Bitcoin Elliptic Dataset. För att kvantitativt förstå olikheterna i algoritmisk prestanda, har tre utvärderingsverktyg använts: F1-score, Precision och Recall. Slutligen, för att ytterligare förstå de undersökta algoritmernas tillämplighet, har två kompletterande kvalitativa intervjuer med svenska kryptovalutaväxlare gjorts. Studien kan inte dra slutsatsen att det finns en bästa algoritm för att upptäcka transaktioner som kan relateras till penningtvätt. Dock verkar tillämpbarheten hos decision tree algoritmen vara mer lovande vid de svenska kyptovalutaväxlarna än de tre andra algoritmerna.

Структура магистерской диссертации включает в себя введение, три главы, заключение, список использованных источников и приложения. Первая глава выпускной квалификационной работы содержит исследование теоретических аспектов создания и функционирования криптовалюты. Во второй главе приводится исследование криптовалюты как инвестиционного инструмента экономики. Третья глава содержит анализ перспектив и проблем развития криптовалюты на мировом финансовом рынке, а также определение перспектив развития криптовалюты как инвестиционного инструмента в экономике России. Все основные выводы и рекомендации по итогам исследования представлены в заключении. / The structure of the master's thesis includes an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of used sources and appendices. The first chapter of the final qualification work contains the study of theoretical aspects of the creation and functioning of cryptocurrency. The second chapter contains the study of cryptocurrency as an investment tool of the economy. The third chapter contains an analysis of the prospects and problems of cryptocurrency development in the global financial market, as well as determining the prospects for the development of cryptocurrency as an investment tool in the Russian economy. All the main conclusions and recommendations based on the results of the study are presented in the conclusion.

Dans les crypto-monnaies telles Bitcoin, l’anonymité des utilisateurs peut être compromise de plusieurs façons. Dans ce mémoire, nous effectuons une revue de littérature et une classification des différents protocoles existants pour anonymiser les usagers et analysons leur efficacité. S’appuyant sur certains critères désirables dans de tels protocoles, nous proposons un modèle de mixeur synchrone décentralisé. Nous avons ciblé deux approches qui s’inscrivent dans ce modèle, le plan de transaction et le réseau de transactions, le second étant une contribution originale de ce mémoire. Nous expliquons son fonctionnement puis analysons son efficacité dans le contexte actuel d’utilisation de Bitcoin / In cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the anonymity of the users may be compromised in many ways. In this thesis, we review the literature concerning existing protocols used to increase anonymity by a method called mixing and produce a classification for such protocols. We propose a decentralized synchronous N-to-N mixing model that takes into account many considerations of mixers. We address two frameworks within this model, the transaction blueprint and the network of transactions, the second approach being a new contribution. We explain how it functions and analyse its efficiency in the current Bitcoin ecosystem.

With the invention of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in 2009, the world's first blockchain application was developed. While academic research gradually begins to investigate cryptocurrencies more closely and attempt to understand their functioning, technology is rapidly evolving and ecosystems grow exponentially. The research is still scattered and chaotic and has not produced common guidelines. Therefore, the question remains: how sustainable cryptocurrencies and their digital ecosystems are.Only a few models and frameworks take a holistic view on digital sustainability. Only two frameworks were identified that take distributed ledger technologies (blockchain) or cryptocurrencies into consideration: the three governance strategies for digital sustainability of Linkov et al. (2018) and 10 basic conditions of sustainable digital artifacts according to Stuermer, Abu-Tayeh and Myrach (2016). These two frameworks were combined into a new integrated sustainability framework for cryptocurrencies. The developed integrated sustainability framework consists of four dimensions and 12 categories.Existing secondary data, self-conducted social media interviews and practical insights gained through an ASIC mining experiment were used to fill the framework with sufficient data. It confirms Bitcoin's sustainability problems in energy consumption and scalability, highlights Ethereum's great potential as a blockchain platform and explains the higher scalability and faster payment of Ripple and IOTA.While 2017 marked the temporary peak of the cryptocurrency hype, 2018 was a transformative year in which the leading cryptocurrencies were increasingly occupying more specialised niches.