Thesis advisor: Vyacheslav Fos / In the first essay, I examine the role of cross-listings in the digital token marketplace ecosystem. Using a unique set of publicly available and hand-collected data from 3,625 tokens traded in 108 marketplaces, I find significant increases in price and trading activity around the date of a token’s first cross-listing. Tokens earn a 49% raw cumulative return in the two weeks around the cross-listing date. Global token-trading volume is almost 50 times higher after cross-listing. Using the uniquely heterogeneous characteristics of token marketplaces, I am able to identify specific value-creation channels. I provide the first evidence supporting value creation through network externalities proposed by recent token-valuation models. Consistent with equity cross-listing theory, I find higher returns for cross-listings that reduce market segmentation and improve information production. In the second essay, we analyze a dataset of 4,003 executed and planned ICOs, which raised a total of $12 billion in capital, nearly all since January 2017. We find evidence of significant ICO underpricing, with average returns of 179% from the ICO price to the first day’s opening market price, over a holding period that averages just 16 days. After trading begins, tokens continue to appreciate in price, generating average buy-and-hold abnormal returns of 48% in the first 30 trading days. We also study the determinants of ICO underpricing and relate cryptocurrency prices to Twitter followers and activity. In the third essay, I examine reputation building by activist hedge funds and document two new findings with regard to hostile activism. First, there is evidence of a permanent reputation effect to hostile activism. Activist hedge funds that have engaged in hostile tactics, receive on average a 3% higher CAR [-10,+10] on their subsequent non-hostile campaigns, compared to hedge funds that have never engaged in hostile tactics. This abnormal return is positively correlated with the level of hostile reputation of the campaigning hedge fund. Second, I find that activist hedge funds with more hostile reputation modify their non-hostile activism style to engage “hostile-like” targets and pursue “hostile-like” objectives, but withhold the use of hostile tactics. These findings imply that hedge funds are able to build reputation using their past engagement tactics and that market participants value such reputation as evidenced by the higher announcement return observed in their targets. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

1 Legal Aspects of Initial Coin Offering Abstract The thesis deals with Initial Coin Offering (ICO) phenomenon. The Initial Coin Offering is a type of funding using cryptocurrencies, which the current legal literature describes as tokens. The thesis has a goal of describing the basics of cryptocurrencies functionality, the explanation of Initial Coin Offering phenomenon and the legal classification of cryptocurrencies emitted in an ICO. The fother parts of the thesis are dedicated to the comparison of Initial Coin Offering and Initial Public Offering with a special focus on the different economic motivation behind both phenomena. In the beginning the thesis describes the cryptocurrency basics such as what is blockchain, wallet and the difference between coins and tokens. Thesis then contains the descriptions of ICO phases, with a focus on the division of ICO on two parts, the public phase in which the retail investors take part, and the pre-sale phase in which the big investors take part. The next section contains the most important declarations and notices concerning ICO and cryptocurrencies, published by the regulatory bodies with a special focus on ESMA, FINMA and SEC. The description of the regulatory framework in the world is followed by the largest section of the thesis, which is dedicated to the...

This diploma thesis deals with the cryptocurrencies in practice of law. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the initial coin offering and the basic tax aspects of the cryptocurrencies, both with respect to the Czech law, and to provide a comparative overview of the cryptocurrency legal regulation in different states of the world. The actual text of the thesis is divided into four parts. These parts are preceded by a general introduction outlining the overall concept of the thesis, its purpose and the reasons why the topic was chosen. The fourth part is followed by a conclusion summarizing the main findings that were made. The first part of the thesis deals with an explanation of the term cryptocurrency and its comparison with the terms virtual and digital currency. It also discusses whether cryptocurrencies can be considered as money or as currencies and what each of these two categories means. The second part is focused on the initial coin offer in the Czech law. There is a brief description of its course followed by an examination of the applicable rules of both public and private law. Particular attention is paid to the rules concerning the initial public offering, payment transactions, collective investment, enterprise and anti-money laundering. The third part of the thesis dissects basic tax aspects of...

Denna uppsats ämnar att undersöka de kommunikativa processer för blockedjeteknologi startups som ska lansera en så kallad “initial coin offering” och således mynta sin egna kryptovaluta, såsom till exempel bitcoin. Vi avser att undersöka det strategiska kommunikation processerna detta involverar. Från ena perspektivet är ett decentraliserat blockkedjesystem högt värderat på grund av det faktum att det jämställer samtliga medverkande och på så vis skapar en “perfekt demokrati”, å andra sidan argumenterar många att centralisering behövs för att bibehålla tillit. Tillit till organisationer skapas genom vetandet att det finns konsekvenser till dess handlingar som kan införas av högre auktoriteter ifall dessa handlingar faller utanför ramarna av vad som anses accepterat (De Fillipe & Wright, 2015). Utan en högre auktoritet som kan implementera detta blir tillit svårare att upprätthålla. Dock verkar blockkedjeteknologi motbevisa detta koncept. Hur är det möjligt för organisationer utan någon reglering från centrala myndigheter att skapa legitimitet och tillit för att på så sätt kunna få investeringar? Resultaten vi fann ställdes i jämförelse sig till våra tre legitimitets teorier som var kognitiv legitimitet, moral legitimitet och pragmatisk legitimitet, samt centrala teman och nyckelord. Att etablera en levande närvaro på sociala medier som till exempel Twitter, LinkedIn och framför allt Telegram grupper var mycket relevant. I telegram grupper sågs en grupp med många aktiva medlemmar och snabb svarsfrekvens från organisationen som mycket betydelsefullt, samt att ha botar som städar upp irrelevant material utan att deltagarna upplever detta som automatiserat och genuint. Att delta på event och etablera relationer med andra individer inom området och även närliggande områden som till exempel banksektorn var centralt, målet med detta var i många fall att kunna få betydelsefulla individer i sin styrelse av rådgivare vilket ökar legitimiteten. Att kunna ställa organisationens implementering av decentraliserad blockkedjeteknologi i jämförelse med den nuvarande centraliserade lösningen var essentiellt för att locka investerare som var villiga att riskera kapital för en ny modernare lösning.

Denna studie ämnar ta reda på vilka faktorer som leder till att en Initial Coin Offering, ICO, blir framgångsrik ur en investerares perspektiv samt hur detta skiljer sig mot traditionella teknikbolag. Data från 200 ICO:s ligger till grund för studien och med hjälp av binär logistisk regressionsanalys testas ett antal modeller för att avgöra vilka faktorer som påverkar huruvida en ICO blir framgångsrik eller inte. Resultat visar att faktorer kopplade till projektets team inte har någon påverkan på dess framgång. Det som däremot visat sig spela roll är faktorer som marknadstrend under pågående ICO, typ av token som ligger till grund för projektet, huruvida det finns en gräns för hur mycket enskilda individer får investera samt hur stor andel av projektets finansieringsmål som uppnås. Viss påverkan har även projektets ursprungsland, men då endast tillsammans med övriga faktorer, inte på egen hand. Detta resultat skiljer sig mot traditionella teknikbolag främst genom att teamet inte alls har lika stor påverkan på framgång när det kommer till ICO:s.

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This study is within the field of financial innovation and entrepreneurship. The thesis’s primary purpose is to investigate how and why entrepreneurs in Sweden are positioning themselves in regarding Initial Coin Offerings as a new financial vehicle based on the Swedish regulations and the underlying factors to the entrepreneur’s point of view. The literature contributes a limited knowledge of the Swedish industry concerning ICOs, and therefore this research aims to enhance awareness. Through qualitative research based on eleven interviews, we conclude there is a general lack of knowledge and risk-aversion from the absence of regulations in Sweden. Furthermore, all interviewed entrepreneurs were open-minded about an ICO with certain limitations. Considering that, on average, an enticing secondary market has existed for the tokens issued by ICOs, and a remarkable amount of money has been left on the table by project promoters, investors seeking for potential profit have hoarded the cryptocurrency space, creating a situation similar to the dot-com bubble. Thus, we also discuss the benefits, drawbacks, and the possible fate regarding ICOs, a new financing method that should not be overlooked.

Crowdfunding challenges century long boundaries between the public, the industry andinnovation. In that respect the phenomenon holds the potential to decentralize and democratizethe way ventures are financed and realized. Crowdfunding has seen a lot of exitingdevelopments during the last few years, partly because of new crowdfunding platformsemerging on the internet, and partly because of new ground-breaking technology being used forfunding purposes. Meanwhile research has not quite catched up with the recent developments ofdifferent models for crowdfunding. This study’s aim is therefor to give an comprehensiveoverview of the different models of crowdfunding that are being utilized by crowdfundingplatforms on the internet today. A deductive content analysis has been made of 67 currentcrowdfunding platforms. The platforms have been analysed in order to determine what model ofcrowdfunding they utilize. The result has, apart from partly confirming prior studies, alsoproduced new exiting findings on what mechanisms constitute some of the crowdfundingmodels we see today. A new taxonomy of crowdfunding models is discussed and proposed. Theconclusion is that the need for a updated taxonomy, like the one this study provides, was wellneeded in order to understand the field. One important finding is that blockchain technology hasproduced a new form of crowdfunding through cryptocurrency: Initial coin offering. Thatparticular area will likely develop and continue to decentralize and democratise the economicalhuman interaction when it comes to financing.

Traditional database with no prior security measures is becoming challenging in the era of data technology. Database storage on a central location with single point of failure and vulnerable to cyber attacks is getting exposed to big risk of being hacked with the evolution of powerful machines and modern hacking techniques. Since its commencement, the BlockChain technology has shown a promising performance for application buildup in diversed fields of life from cryptocurrency to smart contracts and decentralized applications. Although multiple studies on privacy, data confidentiality and security issues of BlockChain are performed but a systematic examination is still needs attention. In this thesis work we conduct a systematic study about the vulnerabilities of BlockChain system and review the security enhancement solutions that may point to a good future direction for further research into the area of BlockChain technology and its applications. Smart contracts are self-executable objects hosted on the 2nd generation blockchain like Ethereum, carry billions of SEK worth of cryptocoins and cannot be updated once deployed. Smart contracts are generally considered secure objects but the systematic analysis of technology and source code exposes a new class of vulnerabilities which are more likely an ethical aspect of programming than the software coding errors. Besides the literature review we empower our results with a static code analysis especially with the perspective of cyber forensics.