This study explores Bitcoin’s volatility characteristics using different extensions of the GARCH model. The volatility characteristics of bitcoin are compared with to a gold commodity and the S&P 500 index. The purpose is to identify which model fits best for the data and to see how the volatility changes during the time period of 1st February 2017 to 1stFebruary 2022. The dataset is divided into two time periods, one prior to the pandemic which is the low uncertainty period and the other after the pandemic being the high uncertainty period. The attention for cryptocurrencies and especially bitcoin, has risen expeditiously the last couple of years, this makes the analysis appropriate and current for the market. The result showed that bitcoin’s volatility is more effected by the volatility of gold than for S&P 500. The volatility shows that bitcoin was more similar to the behavior of the gold than the S&P 500 prior to the pandemic. Further is there still no clearer explanation and bitcoins behavior cannot be stated as a commodities or financial asset. The GARCH model results showed that bitcoin’s volatility is persistent over time and can therefore be an explanation that will apply well as for the next years. The high volatility time periods of bitcoin can be explained by optimism and overestimate bias. The bias connected the overly confident investment decisions to less accurate rents. Bitcoin is still new on the financial market which makes new knowledge extremely important in order to create safer investment portfolios.

Cryptocurrencies have since the creation in 2008 constituted a unique and modern addition tothe financial setting throughout the world. Such assets are commonly known to be associatedwith great risk but also the possibility of great reward. The corresponding research field hasadapted to the evolution of cryptocurrencies and has for over a decade undergone a constantexpansion. Despite this, there is still plenty of unexplored territory within the particular researcharea and this report seeks to examine a part of it. The central topic of this paper concernscryptocurrencies in relation to Swedish retail investors’ different demographic factors and theeffect those have on investment strategy and behavior. To examine this, the report centersaround two main aspects, the investment purpose which cryptocurrency investors associatetheir investments with and investors’ exposure to herd behavior. Additionally, both aspectswere put in relation to various demographic factors to allow an analysis of whether demographicfactors affect the investors’ strategy and behavior. A quantitative method was used for theprocess of collecting data whereby a survey was constructed and replied to by Swedish retailinvestors active in the cryptocurrency market. The primary data obtained was analyzed andpresented through descriptive statistics, t-Tests, and regression models. By interpreting theresults, it was evident that demographic factors were found to not influence the investmentpurpose or the herd behavior of investors. This contradicts previous findings regardingtraditional markets e.g., the stock market where demographic factors are established as factorsaffecting both aspects. Hence, this report suggests that there are differences between thecryptocurrency market and traditional markets. Further, the research conducted in this paperindicates that a majority of investors associate cryptocurrency investments with speculativetrading and there is also a strong bias toward herd behavior among Swedish retail investorsactive in the cryptocurrency market.

There has been much debate among investors on the benefits cryptocurrencies can have for portfolios and how their prices moves in the market. It is not difficult to see that cryptocurrencies are very volatile, yet that does not prevent investors from pouring tons of money in crypto-investments that either generate huge returns or catastrophic losses. One of the main challenges with is cryptocurrenciesis determining how they move with the rest of the market with assets such as stocks. The objective of this thesis was to investigate whether or not crypto provides some diversification benefit and if individual cryptocurrencies move in the same manner with respect to eachother. Of special interest was if there is a relationship between the cryptocurrency market and the stock market. The cryptocurrencies chosen for this project were compared mostly to the stocks in the, very information technology-sector focused, Nasdaq 100 index along with a few other assets. This thesis was written in cooperation with Origin Group AB, an Umeå based startup firm specializing in development of cryptocurrency-related technologies, most notably blockchain. All data used comes from publicly available sources and mostly include prices for cryptocurrencies and stocks from which the daily and weekly returns were calculated. The main methods used for this thesis was four different portfolio strategies with different combinations of assets, Style analysis, and principal component analysis. The portfolio strategies showed some promise with varying tradeoffs between diversification and Sharpe-ratio but the results are a bit questionable due to the short investment period. The principal component analysis showed that the cryptocurrency price data is very noise and the currencies moves pretty much in unison in contrast to the industry sector divided Nasdaq 100, which seem to have a few more distinct directions of movement. The Style-analysis’ inconclusive results show signs of a very noisy dataset and that there may not be a clear linear relationship between conventional asset returns and those of crypto.

Digitalisering och automatisering av mjukvara utvecklas i stor utsträckning varje dag. Syftet med denna studie är att implementera blockchain-teknologi i ett transaktionsbaserat system och ta reda på om och hur väl det kan ersätta dagens fungerande system. I denna studie implementerades blockchain-teknologi i återvinningssystemet för flaskor och burkar. Resonemanget bakom det är att svara på om detta är en möjlig lösning och hur väl blockkedjan skulle kunna ersätta det nuvarande betalningssystemet. För att avgöra om detta är en möjlig ersättning av det traditionella transaktionssystemet har en simulerad pantmaskin konstruerats med bland annat Ganache, NodeJS och MetaMask. Den simulerade pantmaskinen har använts för att utföra mätningar avseende transaktionstiden och säkerheten för det byggda systemet och den medföljande tekniken. Resultatet av studien visar att blockkedjeteknik kan ersätta dagens fungerande betalningssystem i pantautomater. Detta beror på ökad säkerhet, minskat miljöavtryck på grund av mindre pappersförbrukning och snabbare utbetalningstid jämfört med dagens transaktionssystem i pantautomater / Digitization and automation of software are being developed to a large extent every day. The purpose of this study is to implement blockchain technology into a transaction based system and find out if and how well it can replace today's working systems. In this study blockchain technology was implemented to the recycling system for bottles and jars. The reasoning behind that is to answer if this is a possible solution and how well the blockchain could replace the current payment system. To determine if this is a possible replacement of the traditional transaction system, a simulated pawnmachine has been constructed with Ganache, NodeJS and MetaMask. The simulated pawnmachine has been used to carry out measurements regarding the transaction time and security of the built system and the included technology. The result of the study shows that blockchain technology can replace today's working payment system in pawn machines. This is because of increased security, lowered environmental footprint due to less paper consumed and faster payout time compared to today's transaction system in pawn machines.

Cryptocurrencies are gaining prominence among individuals and companies alike, resulting in the growing adoption of so-called cryptocurrency wallet applications, as these simplify carrying out transactions. These wallets are available in a myriad of different forms and specifications. For example, there are hardware and software wallets. The latter can be divided into mobile, web, and desktop wallets. All of them offer attackers various ways to exploit vulnerabilities and steal money from victims. It is hard to keep track of this multitude of options and thus choose the right cryptocurrency wallet. For this reason, in this thesis, we collect the findings from previous literature to provide an overview of the various attack surfaces, possible countermeasures, and further research. Our systematic study has shown that there is still a considerable variety of attack vectors, which we have divided into six subcategories, (i) Memory and Storage, (ii) Operating Systems, (iii) Software Layer, (iv) Network Layer, (v) Blockchain Protocol, and (vi) Others. Some of the identified vulnerabilities have currently no solutions at all or hardly applicable countermeasures. However, some are easy to fix and simple to implement. One of the essential measures is to raise awareness of the identified weaknesses and the associated mitigations, if any, among the involved stakeholders, including users, developers, and exchanges.

El intercambio de las personas, en relación a los bienes y servicios, registra modificaciones, de medios y lugares; se aprecia el trueque, el patrón de metales preciosos, el papel de los chinos del siglo IX, …, también, como se pasa de las plazas de las ciudades, los buques, …, a la internet. Las personas fueron depositando confianza en cada cambio que se registra en la historia. Estos cambios llegan el día de hoy a las denominadas monedas virtuales o criptomonedas. Esto es lo que origina el objetivo del presente trabajo, desarrollar una propuesta para que el uso del Bitcoin sea empleado como medio de pago en las empresas peruanas. Para ello, se consideró la entrevista a personas que usan Bitcoin en sus transacciones comerciales en el Perú y la entrevista desarrollada a 61 empresarios escogidos bajo la muestra de conveniencia, ubicados en la ciudad de Arequipa. La criptomoneda más empleada es el Bitcoin que aparece en el 2009. Las criptomonedas no tienen ley, ni le pertenecen a nadie, es solo la confianza que se tiene en estas, las que pueden hacerla posicionar. Para lograr mejorar esta confianza, se proponen estrategias de comunicación y capacitación, para crear una oportunidad alguna persona, natural o jurídica, que apoye a las empresas que deseen hacer uso del Bitcoin, siendo el 4.9% del total que existen. Las empresas que usan bitcoin, los motiva el hecho que un cliente desee pagar con ello y la falta de conocimiento, es la principal causa para que no lo usen. / The exchange of people, in relation to goods and services, registers changes, of means and places; Barter is appreciated, the pattern of precious metals, the role of the Chinese of the ninth century, ..., also, as it passes from the squares of the city, ships, ..., to the internet. People were placing confidence in every change that is recorded in the story. These changes come today to so-called virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies. This is what originates the objective of this work, to develop a proposal so that the use of Bitcoin is used as a means of payment in Peruvian companies. For this, the interview was considered to people who use Bitcoin in their commercial transactions in Peru and the interview developed to 61 businessmen chosen under the convenience sample, located in the city of Arequipa. The most used cryptocurrency is the Bitcoin that appears in 2009. The cryptocurrencies have no law, nor belong to anyone, it is only the confidence that you have in these, which can make it position. In order to improve this trust, communication and training strategies are proposed, to create an opportunity for any individual, natural or legal, that supports companies that wish to use Bitcoin, 4.9% of the total that exist. Companies that use bitcoin, are motivated by the fact that a customer wants to pay with it and the lack of knowledge, is the main cause for not using it. / Trabajo de investigación

In 2018, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) issued a media statement providing guidance for the first time to South African citizens on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. The SARS media guidelines indicate that the normal income tax rules of the South African Income Tax Act will apply to cryptocurrency transactions and that cryptocurrency gains or losses must be declared as part of taxable income. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the ability of South African taxpayers to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions using the SARS media guidelines. Previous research has focused on establishing the theoretical income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, rather than on the ability of taxpayers to determine those consequences. The study made use of both doctrinal and quantitative research methods to address the research questions. Using doctrinal research, in-depth document analysis was performed to benchmark the SARS media guidelines to that of selected tax authorities, to ascertain the completeness of this guidance. Quantitative data was collected through a cross-sectional survey questionnaire, to test the ability of participants to determine the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions. This study found that the SARS media guidelines did not comprehensively address all the cryptocurrency transactions considered by the guidelines of the other selected tax authorities examined. The SARS media guidelines did not have a statistically significant effect on the participants' ability to determine the income tax consequences of the cryptocurrency transactions presented to them. However, the tax literacy level of participants was found to influence their understanding of the income tax consequences of cryptocurrency transactions, particularly in respect of those transactions not addressed by the SARS media guidelines. These findings support the recommendation that SARS provide more comprehensive guidance to taxpayers, and should focus on improving the tax literacy of taxpayers in general and, with respect to cryptocurrency transactions.

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An emerging body of research has focused on cryptocurrencies and loyalty programs; nevertheless, there is still a significant knowledge void and potential for more investigation into this field and the relation between them. Research has given a limited amount of attention to the role that cryptocurrencies play, even though cryptocurrencies have the potential to radically alter the nature of value perception, which is an essential component of the design of any loyalty program. As a primary research gap, we argue that limited attention has been paid to how incorporating cryptocurrencies, as the reward of a loyalty program, can influence the effectiveness of that program, which is translated as customer loyalty. This thesis pays attention to this issue and fills this research gap. We intend to have a more in-depth look to understand the role that cryptocurrencies play in loyalty programs as there is limited research on these two topics together, even though cryptos and loyalty programs have a combined monetary value of billions of dollars. The purpose of this thesis is to get a better understanding of the ways in which cryptocurrency, as a forward-thinking component of a reward program's innovative design, might affect consumer loyalty. The study focuses on three primary questions. The first is related to the impact that cryptocurrencies have on people's conceptions of loyalty in the context of loyalty reward programs. The second one focuses on the role of emotions and cognitions of the types of rewards and how the customer molds their loyalty to a particular reward program. The third question centers on the potential implications and impacts that come along with implementing cryptocurrency as a design element in a reward program.To address our research questions, a mix-method study and analysis were conducted. First, we conducted quantitative research on why people (users of loyalty programs) are interested in reward programs and examined how their cognitions and emotions associated with cryptocurrencies influence attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. To accomplish this, we administered a survey to 162 respondents, analyzing various variables, including perceived value, status dependence, and skepticism in the perception of loyalty. Second, we also conducted 7 semi-structured interviews with people who have worked in the loyalty reward industry (employees of firms offering a reward program), which was helpful for taking into consideration the company’s point of view too regarding the role of cryptocurrencies in influencing customer loyalty (adding to the insights derived from the quantitative part of the study regarding the user point of view).Our study contributes to the body of literature on loyalty programs (Kim et al., 2021), which are now being deployed and examined at a pace that is unprecedented, since loyalty programs are excellent tools for relationship marketing. However, attempts in the real world often fail, or at the very least do not live up to expectations, which highlights the need for a closer look at the design of loyalty programs that can boost their effectiveness. We build on prior research that suggests paying attention to the design, psychological, and operational elements which can play a role in influencing customer loyalty and particularly, we focus on cryptocurrencies as a design element that can trigger different emotions and cognitions, which are critical for attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.

Background: The emerging cryptocurrency market becomes more and more recognized around the globe. Therefore, it has become of great interest to policymakers, institutional investors, and individual investors. The new encrypted blockchain technology offers individual investors contemporary opportunities to invest contrary to traditional means. However, the volatile market presents instabilities and uncertainty for market participants creating a research gap for academics to investigate what poses these difficulties.  Purpose: The objective of the study is to investigate the determinants that affect individual investors' adoption intention of Bitcoin. By incorporating theories to understand investment behaviors and attitudes.  Methodology: The thesis utilized a quantitative methodology and collected data through an online questionnaire with the help of a Likert-scale instrument. The survey participants ended with a number of 114 respondents that are characterized as young adult investors. Interpretation and evaluation of the results were analyzed through an OLS linear regression with the help of a software program, Minitab.  Findings: Theresearchquestionwasansweredtoasatisfactorylevel,whereresultsattested to past works of literatures. The study found that consumer characteristic is a driving cause for individual investors' adoption intention of Bitcoin. To elaborate, subjective norms of individuals navigate their attitude towards Bitcoin, and investors’ peers’ opinions and acceptance play a crucial role in their engagement in the market. The herding trend was the most significant variable that contributed to investors’ adoption intention. The results also showed a significant correlation toward the technology acceptance model. Nonetheless, the study lacked empirical evidence to support market characteristics steering private investors’ adoption intention.  Implications & Future Research suggestions: The main implications of the study were factors that regarded data collection and methods. Due to a time limitation, the survey was not available for a longer period of time, a longitudinal study could be of interest whilst incorporating more consumer characteristics into the analysis. In addition, future scholars ought to focus on market characteristics and how they influence varying cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Tether alongside Bitcoin. To conclude, a larger scope of the study could bring about more significant results and interesting findings.