Research Project Report

On
“CRYPTOCURRENCY”

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of

Masters of Business Administration

(Session 2016-18)

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda

Submitted by: Under the supervision of:

Manpreet Kaur Dr. Sukhwinder kaur Dhanda
Assistant Professor
Roll No: 167001 Department of Management Studies

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib.

 DECLARATION

I Manpreet Kaur studying in Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College

Fatehgarh Sahib, do hereby declare that this project report relating to
“Cryptocurrencyl” has been prepared by me as of the requirement of Master of
Business Administration program of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical
University, Bathinda (2016-18). My guide for the project is Dr. Sukhwinder Kaur
Dhanda.

I further declare that this project report has not been submitted earlier to any other
University or Institute for the award for any degree or diploma.

Name of the student: Manpreet Kaur

Class: MBA (Finance)

University Roll No. 160600753

 Certificate

This is to certify that the project entitled “Cryptocurrency” submitted for the partial
fulfillment of degree of Master of Business Administration at BBSBEC, Fatehgarh
sahib affiliated to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University Bathinda, is
a bonafied research work carried out by Manpreet Kaur in the area of
specialization in finance, Uni. Roll no. 160600753, under my supervision and that
no part of this work has been submitted for any degree. All references have been
duly acknowledged.

Name of the Supervisor: Dr. Sukhwinder Kaur Dhanda

Specialization: Finance
 PREFACE

I have chosen topic “Cryptocurrency” I am pursuing MBA from ‘Baba Banda

Singh Bahadur Engneering College Fatehgarh Sahib. Before making the project I
had little knowledge about Cryptocurrency and its types. I am doing MBA with
HR+Finance. I want to gain the knowledge deeply about different types of
cryptocurrency, so I chose this topic. During making the project I have get lot of
knowledge about the Cryptocurrency with its pros and cons. For making my
project report time was only for 60 days. I tried best for best result I learned more
as much as I can.

(Manpreet Kaur)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have done my project under the guidance of madam Dr. Sukhwinder Kaur
Dhanda. She is very helpful, she fulfilled the every requirement and time to time
guide me. Whenever I did not understand anything, then I asked again and again,
but she did not feel any irritation, she behaved very politely. She gave me practical
knowledge along with theoretical knowledge various investment tools. She guided
me, what should be the Performa of project. So she has lot of contribution to
complete my project. In the end I want to say thanks to madam Dr. Sukhwinder
Kaur Dhanda by heart. I could write only these few words about her. I don’t
understand what I write in the praise of her. I have no more word because she is
very -very helpful.

Manpreet Kaur
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
What is cryptocurrency?

At the time of writing, the concept of decentralized cryptocurrency is still in its infancy,having
been conceived in January 2009 by a pseudonymous researcher going by the name Satoshi
Nakamoto. The open source project known as Bitcoin was created on the proof-of-concept
principle that transactions can be securely processed on a decentralized peer to peer network
without the need for a central clearinghouse.
Centralized management has always been a part of other digital forms of payment, such as credit
cards or wire transfers. The nature of the open source cryptocurrency protocol does not allow for
traditional disadvantages such as chargebacks or double spending due to the use of signed
encryption keys, effectively removing fraud risk from the merchant.
The prominence and popularity of cryptocurrency technology has quickly spread through the
general public as means to store and transfer wealth, as well as engage in secure e-commerce. As
with any new technology that generates rapid global interest, cryptocurrencies have been
targeted by malicious actors seeking exploitation of the experimental nature of the protocol.
These attacks have come in the form of data breaches, targeted attacks against end users, and
state sponsored regulation.
Cryptocurrencies are physical precomputed files utilizing a public key / private key pairs
generated around a specific encryption algorithm. The key assigns ownership of each
key pair, or ‘coin,’ to the person who is in possession of the private key. These key pairs
are are stored in a file named ‘wallet.dat,’ which resides in a default hidden directory on
the owners hard drive. The private keys are sent to users using dynamic wallet addresses
generated by the users engaged in transactions. The destination payment address is the public
key of the cryptocurrency keypair. There is a finite amount of each cryptocoin available on the
network, and value of each unit is assigned based on supply and demand, as well as the
fluctuating difficulty levels required for mining each coin.
The wallet.dat file is the most important file of the cryptocurrency software architecture, as that
is where the physical cryptographic private key file is stored. Much like cash, if a user loses their
wallet.dat file, or has it stolen, the cryptocurrency is lost.
The decentralized nature of open source protocol ensures that the control of the network remains
in the hands of the users. Transactions are dependent on participants in the network, and the user
responsible for the security of their own finances and data, without the need for reliance on third
parties such as banking institutions.
Bitcoin operates as a p2p file sharing protocol, and therefore the concept is similar to .torrent
technology. The p2p network relies on user participation for successful trusted data exchange.
Each transaction is confirmed through key verification on multiple nodes in the network before
reaching its destination. This crowdsourced key verification
process guarantees the integrity of the data transfer.
The most popular cryptocurrency at the time of writing is Bitcoin, with alternatives such as
Litecoin rapidly gaining market traction. The source code for these programs, as well as the code
for other cryptocurrencies, are available on all major open source code repositories.

Something around three years ago a Bitcoin was worth $300, this week (January 2018) Bitcoin
was traded around $16,700. Over the last five years, the total value of all bitcoin (i.e., “market
capitalization”) has grown from less than $1 billion to over $262 billion with daily notional
turnover on December 8, 2017 exceeding $21 billion. The total value of all cryptocurrency
tokens outstanding now (January 2018) approximately $423.7 billion. But this is not only about
the value of Bitcoin and other that has gained in the last few years, but also the excitement about
the technologies they have introduced to world of technology. We are on the verge of perhaps
one of the biggest transformation in the financial industry.

Let’s get to the point, you might have heard about Bitcoin and how interesting it is for people in
and out of technology, but Bitcoin is not alone. There are many other cryptocurrencies which
each use a different technology and they have different approaches to trading using digital
currency.

History of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency existed as a theoretical construct long before the first digital alternative
currencies debuted. Early cryptocurrency proponents shared the goal of applying cutting-edge
mathematical and computer science principles to solve what they perceived as practical and
political shortcomings of “traditional” fiat currencies.

Technical Foundations

Cryptocurrency’s technical foundations date back to the early 1980s, when an American
cryptographer named David Chaum invented a “blinding” algorithm that remains central to
modern web-based encryption. The algorithm allowed for secure, unalterable information
exchanges between parties, laying the groundwork for future electronic currency transfers. This
was known as “blinded money.”

By the late 1980s, Chaum enlisted a handful of other cryptocurrency enthusiasts in an attempt to
commercialize the concept of blinded money. After relocating to the Netherlands, he founded
DigiCash, a for-profit company that produced units of currency based on the blinding algorithm.
Unlike Bitcoin and most other modern cryptocurrenncies, DigiCash’s control wasn’t
decentralized. Chaum’s company had a monopoly on supply control, similar to central banks’
monopoly on fiat currencies.

DigiCash initially dealt directly with individuals, but the Netherlands’ central bank cried foul and
quashed this idea. Faced with an ultimatum, DigiCash agreed to sell only to licensed banks,
seriously curtailing its market potential. Microsoft later approached DigiCash about a potentially
lucrative partnership that would have permitted early Windows users to make purchases in its
currency, but the two companies couldn’t agree on terms, and DigiCash went belly-up in the late
1990s.

Around the same time, an accomplished software engineer named Wei Dai published a white
paper on b-money, a virtual currency architecture that included many of the basic components of
modern cryptocurrencies, such as complex anonymity protections and decentralization.
However, b-money was never deployed as a means of exchange.

Shortly thereafter, a Chaum associate named Nick Szabo developed and released a
cryptocurrency called Bit Gold, which was notable for using the blockchain system that
underpins most modern cryptocurrencies. Like DigiCash, Bit Gold never gained popular traction
and is no longer used as a means of exchange.

Pre-Bitcoin Virtual Currencies

After DigiCash, much of the research and investment in electronic financial transactions shifted
to more conventional, though digital, intermediaries, such as PayPal (itself a harbinger of mobile
payment technologies that have exploded in popularity over the past 10 years). A handful of
DigiCash imitators, such as Russia’s WebMoney, sprang up in other parts of the world.

In the United States, the most notable virtual currency of the late 1990s and 2000s was known as
e-gold. e-gold was created and controlled by a Florida-based company of the same name. e-gold,
the company, basically functioned as a digital gold buyer. Its customers, or users, sent their old
jewelry, trinkets, and coins to e-gold’s warehouse, receiving digital “e-gold” – units of currency
denominated in ounces of gold. e-gold users could then trade their holdings with other users,
cash out for physical gold, or exchange their e-gold for U.S. dollars.

At its peak in the mid-2000s, e-gold had millions of active accounts and processed billions of
dollars in transactions annually. Unfortunately, e-gold’s relatively lax security protocols made it
a popular target for hackers and phishing scammers, leaving its users vulnerable to financial loss.
And by the mid-2000s, much of e-gold’s transaction activity was legally dubious – its laid-back
legal compliance policies made it attractive to money laundering operations and small-scale
Ponzi schemes. The platform faced growing legal pressure during the mid- and late-2000s, and
finally ceased to operate in 2009.

Bitcoin and the Modern Cryptocurrency Boom

Bitcoin is widely regarded as the first modern cryptocurrency – the first publicly used means of
exchange to combine decentralized control, user anonymity, record-keeping via a blockchain,
and built-in scarcity. It was first outlined in a 2008 white paper published by Satoshi Nakamoto,
a pseudonymous person or group.

In early 2009, Nakamoto released Bitcoin to the public, and a group of enthusiastic supporters
began exchanging and mining the currency. By late 2010, the first of what would eventually be
dozens of similar cryptocurrencies – including popular alternatives like Litecoin – began
appearing. The first public Bitcoin exchanges appeared around this time as well.

In late 2012, WordPress became the first major merchant to accept payment in Bitcoin.
Others, including Newegg.com (an online electronics retailer), Expedia, and Microsoft, followed.
Dozens of merchants now view the world’s most popular cryptocurrency as a legitimate payment
method. Though few other cryptocurrencies are widely accepted for merchant payments,
increasingly active exchanges allow holders to exchange them for Bitcoin or fiat currencies –
providing critical liquidity and flexibility.

Advantages of Cryptocurrency

1. Built-in Scarcity May Support Value

Most cryptocurrencies are hardwired for scarcity – the source code specifies how many units can
ever exist. In this way, cryptocurrencies are more like precious metals than fiat currencies. Like
precious metals, they may offer inflation protection unavailable to fiat currency users.

2. Loosening of Government Currency Monopolies

Cryptocurrencies offer a reliable means of exchange outside the direct control of national banks,
such as the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank. This is particularly attractive to
people who worry that quantitative easing (central banks’ “printing money” by purchasing
government bonds) and other forms of loose monetary policy, such as near-zero inter-bank
lending rates, will lead to long-term economic instability.

In the long run, many economists and political scientists expect world governments to co-opt
cryptocurrency, or at least to incorporate aspects of cryptocurrency (such as built-in scarcity and
authentication protocols) into fiat currencies. This could potentially satisfy some cryptocurrency
proponents’ worries about the inflationary nature of fiat currencies and the inherent insecurity of
physical cash.

3. Self-Interested, Self-Policing Communities

Mining is a built-in quality control and policing mechanism for cryptocurrencies. Because
they’re paid for their efforts, miners have a financial stake in keeping accurate, up-to-date
transaction records – thereby securing the integrity of the system and the value of the currency.

4. Robust Privacy Protections

Privacy and anonymity were chief concerns for early cryptocurrency proponents, and remain so
today. Many cryptocurrency users employ pseudonyms unconnected to any information,
accounts, or stored data that could identify them. Though it’s possible for sophisticated
community members to deduce users’ identities, newer cryptocurrencies (post-Bitcoin) have
additional protections that make it much more difficult.

5. Harder for Governments to Exact Financial Retribution

When citizens in repressive countries run afoul of their governments, said governments can
easily freeze or seize their domestic bank accounts, or reverse transactions made in local
currency. This is of particular concern in autocratic countries such as China and Russia, where
wealthy individuals who run afoul of the ruling party frequently find themselves facing serious
financial and legal troubles of dubious provenance.

Unlike central bank-backed fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies are virtually immune from
authoritarian caprice. Cryptocurrency funds and transaction records are stored in
numerous locations around the world, rendering state control – even assuming international
cooperation – highly impractical. It’s a bit of an oversimplification, but using cryptocurrency is a
bit like having access to a theoretically unlimited number of offshore bank accounts.

Decentralization is problematic for governments accustomed to employing financial leverage (or

outright bullying) to keep troublesome elites in check. In late 2017, CoinTelegraph reported on a
multinational cryptocurrency initiative spearheaded by the Russian government. If successful,
the initiative would have two salutary outcomes for those involved: weakening the U.S. dollar’s
dominance as the world’s de facto means of exchange, and affording participating governments
tighter control over increasingly voluminous and valuable cryptocurrency supplies.

6. Generally Cheaper Than Traditional Electronic Transactions

The concepts of blockchains, private keys, and wallets effectively solve the double-spending
problem, ensuring that new cryptocurrencies aren’t abused by tech-savvy crooks capable of
duplicating digital funds. Cryptocurrencies’ security features also eliminate the need for a third-
party payment processor – such as Visa or PayPal – to authenticate and verify every electronic
financial transaction.

In turn, this eliminates the need for mandatory transaction fees to support those payment
processors’ work – since miners, the cryptocurrency equivalent of payment processors, earn new
currency units for their work in addition to optional transaction fees. Cryptocurrency transaction
fees are generally less than 1% of the transaction value, versus 1.5% to 3% for credit card
payment processors and PayPal.
7. Fewer Barriers and Costs to International Transactions

Cryptocurrencies don’t treat international transactions any differently than domestic transactions.
Transactions are either free or come with a nominal transaction fee, no matter where the sender
and recipient are located. This is a huge advantage relative to international transactions involving
fiat currency, which almost always have some special fees that don’t apply to domestic
transactions – such as international credit card or ATM fees. And direct international money
transfers can be very expensive, with fees sometimes exceeding 10% or 15% of the transferred
amount.

Cons of Cryptocurrency

1. Lack of Regulation Facilitates Black Market Activity

Probably the biggest drawback and regulatory concern around cryptocurrency is its ability to
facilitate illicit activity. Many gray and black market online transactions are denominated in
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For instance, the infamous dark web marketplace Silk Road
used Bitcoin to facilitate illegal drug purchases and other illicit activities before being shut down
in 2014. Cryptocurrencies are also increasingly popular tools for money laundering – funneling
illicitly obtained money through a “clean” intermediary to conceal its source.
The same strengths that make cryptocurrencies difficult for governments to seize and track allow
criminals to operate with relative ease – though, it should be noted, the founder of Silk Road is
now behind bars, thanks to a years-long DEA investigation.

2. Potential for Tax Evasion in Some Jurisdictions

Since cryptocurrencies aren’t regulated by national governments and usually exist outside their
direct control, they naturally attract tax evaders. Many small employers pay employees in bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies to avoid liability for payroll taxes and help their workers avoid
income tax liability, while online sellers often accept cryptocurrencies to avoid sales and income
tax liability.

According to the IRS, the U.S. government applies the same taxation guidelines to all
cryptocurrency payments by and to U.S. persons and businesses. However, many countries don’t
have such policies in place. And the inherent anonymity of cryptocurrency makes some tax law
violations, particularly those involving pseudonymous online sellers (as opposed to an employer
who puts an employee’s real name on a W-2 indicating their bitcoin earnings for the tax year),
difficult to track.

3. Potential for Financial Loss Due to Data Loss

Early cryptocurrency proponents believed that, if properly secured, digital alternative currencies
promised to support a decisive shift away from physical cash, which they viewed as imperfect
and inherently risky. Assuming a virtually uncrackable source code, impenetrable authentication
protocols (keys) and adequate hacking defenses (which Mt. Gox lacked), it’s safer to store
money in the cloud or even a physical data storage device than in a back pocket or purse.

However, this assumes that cryptocurrency users take proper precautions to avoid data loss. For
instance, users who store their private keys on single physical storage devices suffer
irreversible financial harm when the device is lost or stolen. Even users who store their data with
a single cloud service can face loss if the server is physically damaged or disconnected from the
global Internet (a possibility for servers located in countries with tight Internet controls, such as
China).
4. Potential for High Price Volatility and Manipulation

Many cryptocurrencies have relatively few outstanding units concentrated in a handful of

individuals’ (often the currencies’ creators and close associates) hands. These holders effectively
control these currencies’ supplies, making them susceptible to wild value swings and outright
manipulation – similar to thinly traded penny stocks. However, even widely traded
cryptocurrencies are subject to price volatility: Bitcoin’s value doubled several times in 2017,
then halved during the first few weeks of 2018.

5. Often Can’t Be Exchanged for Fiat Currency

Generally, only the most popular cryptocurrencies – those with the highest market capitalization,
in dollar terms – have dedicated online exchanges that permit direct exchange for fiat currency.
The rest don’t have dedicated online exchanges, and thus can’t be directly exchanged for fiat
currencies. Instead, users have to convert them into more commonly used cryptocurrencies, such
as Bitcoin, before fiat currency conversion. By increasing exchange transactions’ cost, this
suppresses demand for, and thus the value of, some lesser-used cryptocurrencies.

6. Limited to No Facility for Chargebacks or Refunds

Although cryptocurrency miners serve as quasi-intermediaries for cryptocurrency transactions,

they’re not responsible for arbitrating disputes between transacting parties. In fact, the concept of
such an arbitrator violates the decentralizing impulse at the heart of modern cryptocurrency
philosophy. This means that you have no one to appeal to if you’re cheated in a cryptocurrency
transaction – for instance, paying upfront for an item you never receive. Though some newer
cryptocurrencies attempt to address the chargeback/refund issue, solutions remain incomplete
and largely unproven.

By contrast, traditional payment processors and credit card networks such as Visa, MasterCard,
and PayPal often step in to resolve buyer-seller disputes. Their refund, or chargeback,
policies are specifically designed to prevent seller fraud.

7. Adverse Environmental Impacts of Cryptocurrency Mining

Cryptocurrency mining is very energy-intensive. The biggest culprit is Bitcoin, the world’s most
popular cryptocurrency. According to estimates cited by Ars Technica, Bitcoin mining consumes
more electricity than the entire country of Denmark – though, as some of the world’s largest
Bitcoin mines are located in coal-laden countries like China, without that progressive
Scandinavian state’s minute carbon footprint.

Though they’re quick to throw cold water on the most alarmist claims, cryptocurrency experts
acknowledge that mining presents a serious environmental threat at current rates of growth. Ars
Technica identifies three possible short- to medium-term solutions:

 Reducing the price of Bitcoin to render mining less lucrative, a move that would likely
require concerted interference into what’s thus far been a laissez-faire market
 Cutting the mining reward faster than the currently scheduled rate (halving every four
years)
 Switching to a less power-hungry algorithm, a controversial prospect among mining
incumbents

Over the longer term, the best solution is to power cryptocurrency mines with low- or no-carbon
energy sources, perhaps with attendant incentives to relocate mines to low-carbon states
like Costa Rica and the Netherlands.

Types of Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin
The first cryptocurrency to emerge was Bitcoin (BTC), based on the SHA-256 algorithm. This
virtual commodity was conceptualized in a whitepaper written in 2009 by a pseudonymous
author who went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
Over the course Bitcoin’s first four years, the market price of a single Bitcoin has fluctuated
from below $0.01USD to over $250USD. The highly volatile price has made Bitcoin an
attractive investment alternative for traders seeking to profit from market speculation, while at
the same time the market volatility has made long term investors and daily users hesitant to
participate for long periods of time.
A single Bitcoin can be spent in fractional increments that can be as small as 0.00000001 BTC
per transaction. The smallest increment of a Bitcoin is known as a Satoshi, named after the
original hitepaper author. The protocol allows for incremental transactions in the event the value
of BTC to rises to the point where micro transactions will become commonplace. The rise in the
value of BTC is anticipated because there is a limit to the total amount of Bitcoin will ever be
created. Once the Bitcoin blockchain is completed, users can only circulate the coin that still
exists on the network. As time goes on, Bitcoin will be lost and destroyed through daily use. The
principles of supply and demand economics will
come into play, increasing value of remaining Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is currently the most reputable of all cryptocurrency, as it is the oldest, and has been the
subject of mainstream media coverage due to rapid market fluctuations and an innovative
technical concept. At the time of writing, Bitcoin can be interpreted as being the ‘gold standard’
of cryptocurrency because all alternative cryptocurrency market prices are matched to the price
of BTC.

Bitcoin-qt wallet GUI

Litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) can be considered the ‘silver standard’ of cryptocurrency, as it has been the
second most adopted cryptocurrency by both miners and exchanges.
Litecoin makes use of the Scrypt encryption algorithm, as opposed to SHA-256.
One of the goals of Litecoin was to have transactions confirm at a faster speed than on the
Bitcoin network, as well as make use of an algorithm that was resistant to accelerated hardware
mining technologies such as ASIC. At the time of writing, the Scrypt algorithm is resistant to
ASIC mining due to intense RAM
requirements.
The total amount of Litecoin that is available for mining and circulation is four times the amount
of Bitcoin, meaning there will be quadruple the amount of Litecoin available to Bitcoin.

Litecoin-qt GUI wallet

Altcoins
‘Altcoin’ a is slang term for the dozens of project forks that have emerged within the
cryptocurrency software development community. Altcoins are ‘forks’ of either Bitcoin or
Litecoin, meaning they make use of SHA-256 or Scrypt encryption algorithms and feature their
own unique properties. Names of various altcoins
range from memorable to comical (Feathercoin, Terracoin, P2PCoin, BitBar, ChinaCoin,
BBQCoin). The profitability of mining and trading altcoin varies on a daily basis. Some altcoins
exceed the profitability of Bitcoin at times, while others are less profitable.
It is believed by some cryptoeconomists that altcoins contribute to a diverse cryptocommodities
marketplace, which is a good thing as there is more opportunity for speculative arbitrage and
mining difficulty levels are spread over many different networks. Other cryptoeconomists
disagree about the beneficial aspects of altcoins, citing overuse of the cryptocoin concept will
dilute widespread adoption and restrict the use of the technology to speculative trade
markets instead of daily commerce.

Fig 1.5 - A few examples of altcoin logos - PPCoin, Feathercoin, BBQCoin, IXcoin,
Mincoin, Terracoin, Freicoin

Ethereum (ETH)
Platform that enables smart contracts and distributed applications (DApps) to be built and
operate with no downtime, fraud, interference or control from a third party. Throughout 2014,
Ethereum had established a pre-sale for ether that had obtained an overwhelming response. The
applications on Ethereum are conducted on its own platform-specific cryptographic token, Ether.
Ether is similar to a vehicle for moving around on the Ethereum system, and is sought by mostly
developers seeking to develop and operate programs inside Ethereum. According to Ethereum, it
can be employed to “codify, decentralize, trade and secure just about anything.” Following the
attack on the DAO in 2016, Ethereum was split into Ethereum (ETH) and also Ethereum Classic
(ETC). Ethereum (ETH) has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, second after Bitcoin among
all cryptocurrencies.

Characteristics:
1. Ethereum could be used as a platform to create blockchain applications and new tokens
2. Uses smart contracts

Zcash
A decentralized and open-source cryptocurrency launched in the second part of 2016, and it
really looks promising. In case Bitcoin is like http for money, Zcash is https, this is how Zcash
defines itself. Zcash offers privacy and discerning transparency of trades. Thus, like https, Zcash
claims to give extra privacy or security where all transactions are recorded and printed within a
blockchain, but details such as the sender, recipient, and amount stay private. Zcash offers its
users the option of ‘shielded’ transactions, which allow for content to be encrypted using
advanced cryptographic procedure or zero-knowledge proof structure called a zk-SNARK
developed by its team.

Characteristics:
1. Zcash uses a specific proof to secure the network or proof of construction. This leads to
maintain the network with secure ledger of balances without disclosing parties or amounts
involved in transactions.

Dash
Dash (originally known as Darkcoin) is a more secretive variant of Bitcoin. Dash offers more
anonymity as it functions on a decentralized mastercode system which produces transactions
almost untraceably. Launched in January 2014, Dash experienced a growing fan after in a brief
span of time. This cryptocurrency was made and manufactured by Evan Duffield and could be
mined using a CPU or GPU. The rebranding did not change any of its technological features
such as Darksend, InstantX.

1. Dash uses a two-tier architecture to power its network

 2. Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)
3. DASH aims to be the first privacy-centric cryptographic currency with fully
encrypted transactions and anonymous block transactions, this feature is called PrivateSend

Ripple (XRP)
Ripple is a real-time worldwide settlement network that provides instant, certain and low-cost
international payments. Ripple “empowers banks to repay cross-border payments in real time,
together with closing transparency, and at lower prices.” Released in 2012, Ripple currency has a
market capitalization of $1.26 billion. Ripple’s consensus ledger is a method of conformation. Ripple
does not need mining, a quality that deviates from bitcoin and altcoins. Since Ripple’s structure does
not need mining, it reduces the use of computing power, and minimizes network latency. Ripple
considers that ‘distributing value is a powerful means to incentivize certain behaviors and
consequently currently intends to distribute XRP mostly “through business development agreements,
incentives to liquidity providers who offer tighter spreads for payments, and selling XRP to
institutional buyers interested in investing in XRP.”

Characteristics:
1. Ripple is not an average cryptocurrency, obtaining Ripple can only be done by buying the
currency from various exchanges.
2. Backed by many banks and financial institutions.
3. In Ripple there is no mining involved.

Monero (XMR)
Monero is a secure, confidential and untraceable currency. This Open source cryptocurrency was
launched in April 2014 and shortly spiked great interest among the cryptography community and
fans. The development of this cryptocurrency is totally donation-based and community-driven.
Monero enables complete privacy by employing a special technique known as ‘ring signatures.’
with this technique, there seems a bunch of cryptographic signatures like at least one real player
— but since all of them appear valid, the real one cannot be isolated.

Characteristics:
1. Monero is not like other cryptocurrencies that derivatives of Bitcoin, Monero is based on
the CryptoNight PoW hash algorithm, which came from CryptoNote protocol.
2. Monero is fungible, that means, every unit of the currency can be substituted by
another unit.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE :
Babaioff et al. 2012 Bitcoin protocol (Andrychowicz et al. 2014, Babaioff et al. 2012, Bentov et
al. 2014, Jayasinghe et al. 2014, Kumaresan and Bentov 2014). In addition, Bentov et al. (2014)
state, that all other cryptocurrencies share the same fundamentals and ideas with Bitcoin. Only
Danezis et al. (2013) and Miers et al. (2013) have researched Zerocoin, which implements a
stronger transaction anonymity than other CCs.

All papers analyze the Bitcoin protocol, identify existing weaknesses and develop enhancement
to the existing protocol. Bentov et al. (2014) see a "Tragedy of the Commons" problem in the
protocol, in that fees from transactions could not cover the mining costs. A Proof of Activity
protocol is developed to solve the problem and to "decentralize the power that synchronizes the
transactions in a quite pronounced fashion" (Bentov et al. 2014). Kumaresan and Bentov have
also developed a Bitcoin protocol enhancement which "captures the amount of computational
effort required to validate Bitcoin transactions" (2014). This change would foster honest
behavior and boost the robustness of Bitcoin transactions. Babaioff et al. (2012) suggest changes
to the Bitcoin protocol to incentivize information sharing in Bitcoin.

Danezis et al. 2013 The developed protocol from Jayasinghe et al. "guarantees strong-fairness
while preserving anonymity of the consumer and the merchant" (2014). Andrychowicz et al.
(2014) engineer a protocol to secure multiparty lotteries without a trusted authority which is built
on the Bitcoin protocol. Only the work of Danezis et al. (2013) and Miers et al. (2013) are built
on Zerocoins, a cryptocurrency for anonymous decentralized transactions. The protocol uses
"modern techniques based on quadratic arithmetic programs resulting in smaller proofs and
quicker verification" (Danezis et al. 2013).

As all papers focus on the technical development or enhancement of cryptocurrency protocols, a

design science orientation for all papers can be stated (Hevner et al. 2004). Therefore, three of
the papers discuss the protocol on a conceptual basis (Babaioff et al. 2012, Bentov et al. 2014,
Danezis et al. 2013). Andrychowicz et al. (2014), Jayasinghe et al. (2014), Kumaresan and
Bentov (2014) and Miers et al. (2013) use prototyping methods with their proposed changes
implemented and tested iteratively.

Bissias et al. (2014) Network Layer The second cluster of cryptocurrency related research
focuses on the network layer. The majority of the papers grouped in this section examine the
Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, only Bissias et al. (2014) included Litecoin as alternative to
Bitcoin into their research. Anish Dev (2014) names also other cryptocurrencies, but sees them
as derivates of Bitcoin.
The research on the peer-to-peer network of cryptocurrencies is multi-faceted. One of the earliest
papers on cryptocurrency research (Reid and Harrigan 2011) analyses the anonymity in the
Bitcoin network. The authors state, that despite the claim that Bitcoin is a secure and anonymous
currency, peers in the network can easily be identified by analyzing the topology of the Bitcoin
network.

Luo et al. (2013) Methods to analyze the Bitcoin network are described by Luo et al. (2013).
They use a parallel computing approach to analyze transaction, making tracing and searching of
transactions faster and easier. By adding available external information and the tracking of
marked Bitcoins, de-anonymization of user is very easy for the everyday user. Biryukov et al.
(2014) also use network topology methods to deanonymize user even if they are connected to the
Bitcoin network via a Tor network (which masks the user's IP address). The authors state, that
"the cost of the deanonymization attack on the full Bitcoin network is under 1500 EUR"
(Biryukov et al. 2014). Therefore, anonymity should not be seen as a core feature of
cryptocurrencies (Reid and Harrigan 2011). A possible way to unlink Bitcoins from known users
and therefore hinder deanonymization of the network peers is a mixing method, "which is the
process of transferring funds between two address without recording their relationship to the
public block chain" (Bissias et al. 2014). As existing methods are vulnerable to various cyber
attacks (e.g. denial-of-service attacks), Bissias et al. (2014) propose an alternative method named
Xim, which has a strong robustness against these attacks and allows finding anonymous mixing
partners.

Karame et al. 2012 The second stream of research on the network layer of cryptocurrencies
analyzes fast transaction support in Bitcoin. As each transaction needs an average time of ten
minutes to be included into the blockchain and up to one hour to be robust against double
spending attacks, Bitcoin is not suitable for e-Commerce scenarios where the exchange of
services or goods and Bitcoins happens at the same time (Karame et al. 2012). Singh et al. (2013)
develop a scheme for fast transaction support in Bitcoin, as long as payer and payee know and
trust each other. If both parties of the transaction do not trust each other, other mechanisms have
to be found. Bamert et al. (2013) suggest that the payee connect to random peers in the network
and check if inconsistencies occur during the validation phase of a Bitcoin transaction. This
gives the attacker only a "0.088% chance of performing a successful double-spending attack"
(Bamert et al. 2013). The authors tested their proposal at a snack vending machine accepting
Bitcoins. An alternative, suggested by Karame et al. (2012), introduces observer to the Bitcoin
network which informs peers about double-spending attacks.
Gervais et al. 2014a Simplified payment verification (SPV) clients are an additional important
concept to foster Bitcoin as an alternative for e-Business transactions. As specific devices (like
mobile phones) have a limited amount of data storage and cannot store the complete blockchain.
SPV clients allow peers to extract Bitcoin transactions relevant for the client while outsourcing
transaction validations to more powerful network peers (Gervais et al. 2014a). Gervais et al.
show that these "filters incur serious privacy leakage in existing SPV client implementations"
(2014a) and suggest a lightweight modification of the SPV clients.

Hevner et al. 2004 Research on the network layer has a strong design science orientation
(Hevner et al. 2004). Based on identified limitation of the existing cryptocurrency peer-to-peer
network, several papers (like Biryukov et al. (2014), Luo et al. (2013) or Singh et al. (2013))
design solutions to meet the limitations. Research methods for designing concepts are based on
conceptual work like Miller et al. (2014) who introduce a concept to use the Bitcoin network for
distributed storage of archival data or use experiments (Anish Dev 2014) or prototyping methods
(Bissias et al. 2014). In addition, a more descriptive or analytical approach can be identified.
Authors like Decker and Wattenhofer (2013) analyze the public available Bitcoin blockchain to
research information shared in the Bitcoin network. This quantitative data analysis approach is
also used by Karame et al. (2012) and Reid and Harrigan (2011).

El Defrawy and Lampkins (2014) Ecosystem Layer The majority of literature looked at
examined the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Like in the previous sections, Bitcoin is the dominant
CC examined. El Defrawy and Lampkins (2014), Malone and O'Dwyer (2014) and Taylor
(2013) mention other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, but base their research on Bitcoin.
BenSasson et al. (2014) present Zerocash as an alternative for decentralized anonymous
payments. Many papers in this section are new introductions to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Papers
like Cusumano (2014), Evans-Pughe et al. (2014), Grier (2014), Hurlburt and Bojanova (2014),
Parthemer and Klein (2014), Peck (2012) and Peck (2013) give positivistic insights to the
ecosystem and explain how Bitcoin works. This type of research can be used as a good starting
point for researchers who want to understand the Bitcoin ecosystem. Introductory papers without
scientific rigor are reasonable if the research field is quite new.
Meiklejohn et al. (2013) also give a characterization of the Bitcoin ecosystem but emphasize
criminal behavior, notably fraud. Although, "Bitcoin does not provide a particularly easy or
effective way to transact large volumes of illicitly obtained money" (Meiklejohn et al. 2013), the
ecosystem is vulnerable to money thefts, money laundering and illegal transaction. Christin
(2013) describes how Bitcoin was used to purchase illicit items like narcotics through the online
marketplace Silk Road. The author shows, that 4.5% to 9% of all Bitcoin transactions can be
linked to Silk Road sales. In addition, users with the intention of buying illicit goods "had about
25% - 45% more bitcoins (within the 95% Confidence Interval) than those who had not spent
bitcoins on illicit goods" (Bohr and Bashir 2014). Moser et al. (2013) and Stokes (2012) research
money laundering which is used to mask the illicit nature of money. With mixing methods and
services like BitLaundry, described by Moser et al. (2013), it is possible to anonymize
transactions. However, it has been suggested that this is only possible for small amounts of illicit
money as a large "movement with money laundering, it would incur attention both within the
Bitcoin community and, ultimately at a law enforcement level" (Stokes 2012). Gad (2014)
suggests implementing regulations for exchanging Bitcoins into fiat currencies to prevent misuse
of crypto

Gervais et al. (2014b) Users' intentions to participate in the Bitcoin ecosystems are described
by Glaser et al., suggesting that "new users tend to trade Bitcoin on a speculative investment
intention basis and have low intention to rely on the underlying network as means for paying
goods or services" (2014). van Alstyne (2014) supports this argument, but sees this development
as necessary to give Bitcoin a value. Gervais et al. (2014b) examine the claim of Bitcoin as a
decentralized currency and show that, despite the decentralized peer-to-peer network, parties can
influence the development of Bitcoin. Protocol maintenance is performed by a small number of
core developers, and other participants only have limited influence on them. Other central parties
include mining pools which provide a large portion of computational resources in the Bitcoin
ecosystem, but "if these pools colluded to acquire more than 50 percent of computing power
share, they could effectively control all transactions, for example, preventing certain
transactions’ execution, approving a specific set of transactions, or approving double-spending
Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin Twenty-first Americas Conference on Information Systems, Puerto
Rico, 2015 10 transactions" (Gervais et al. 2014b). To overcome this limitation, Ben-Sasson et
al. (2014) and El Defrawy and Lampkins (2014) propose new currencies scheme with stronger
cryptographic methods and more sustainable decentralization.currencies.
Taylor (2013) A different stream of Bitcoin ecosystem's research is about mining hardware and
their development. Because mining is a resource consuming process, new types of hash
calculating hardware have emerged. Taylor (2013) describes four phases of hardware
development. In the first phase, the Bitcoin mining was based on CPU, which were replaced by
graphical processor units (GPU) in the second phase. The third phase started mid 2011 with the
introduction of field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) for Bitcoin mining. These FPGA were
stepping-stone for the fourth phase, the introduction of application-specific integrated circuits
(ASIC) providing a higher cost and energy efficiency. Malone and O'Dwyer calculated that "the
entire Bitcoin mining network is on par with Ireland for electricity consumption" (2014).

Hevner et al. 2004 Research on the ecosystem layer leans towards a behavioral perspective
(Hevner et al. 2004). All introductory papers (like Grier 2014) are based on archival data
analysis, although not all sources are clearly referenced in this type of paper. Archival data
analysis is also used by Gervais et al. (2014b) and Stokes (2012) with a stronger scientific rigor.
A different research method used is quantitative data analysis (e.g. Glaser et al. 2014). Taylor’s
(2013) work about the hardware development relies on case study research. More design-science
oriented papers used experiments (van den Hooff et al. 2014) or a conceptual approach (Szefer
and Lee 2013). Some papers, like Christin (2013), discuss the ethics of their research, suggesting
that researching illegal activities like money laundering and platforms selling illicit goods might
stimulate further usage and activate new users. In addition, analyzing data from those activities
might have unintended consequences for users. Researchers must be aware of these
consequences and consider strategies to mitigate the risk. One strategy described by Christin
(2013) and Moser et al. (2013) are proposals of intervention strategies (e.g. blacklisting of
Bitcoins) which prevent further illegal activities in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Banville and Landry 1989 Cryptocurrency Research and its Link to IS Research : The papers
discussed above, while discussing phenomena that are IT-enabled, never link the phenomena to
IS research. Nor has cryptocurrency research drawn much attention from major IS conferences
and journals. The question therefore remains: Are cryptocurrencies a potential research area for
IS research? From a general view, IS research is typically based on a core subject or
phenomenon, such as an IT artifact (Banville and Landry 1989, Orlikowski and Iacono 2001).
For cryptocurrency research, this core artifact could be the cryptocurrencies’ protocol or the
peer-to-peer network or both.
Lee 1999 In addition, IS research has "a research focus on the rich phenomena that emerge
whenever the technological and the social come into contact with, react to, and transform each
other" (Lee 1999). Further, rich phenomena based on the intertwining of technological artifacts
and social context can be found in cryptocurrencies. Just a few examples range from the open
source development of the cryptocurrency protocol to fast transaction support for e-Commerce to
new services and business models based on the cryptocurrencies’ protocol and network. From a
general view, it is justified to say that research about cryptocurrencies belongs to Information
Systems Research. A stronger consideration of cryptocurrencies in IS would also enlarge the
diversity of the discipline (Benbasat and Weber 1996, Robey 1996).

In order to illustrate the potential that cryptocurrency research has for IS research, I have linked
the three broad fields of examination in previous research to specific AIS SIGs and tracks from
AMCIS, ECIS, ICIS and HICSS. This has been done with reference to keywords of the article,
the text itself and the research background of the authors. This illustration therefore serves as a
starting point for the inclusion of cryptocurrency research into IS research, while also showing
just how untapped this new and emergent pheno menon is.

Protocol Layer

SIGSEC Papers researching the protocol layer may raise interest for the communities of SIG on
Information Security (SIGSEC) and of the SIG on E-Business (SIGeBIZ). Most of reviewed
paper in this layer have a technical approach and construct an IT artifact. Papers like Bentov et
al. (2014) and Kumaresan and Bentov (2014) analyze "system vulnerabilities and risk exposure"
(Siponen et al. 2015) and present solutions to cope with these risk exposures. Other papers (e.g.
Andrychowicz et al. 2014, Jayasinghe et al. 2014) discuss "technologies to facilitate negotiations
and auctions" (Shaw et al. 2015) or support "Internet-based procurement and sales" (Shaw et al.
2015).

Network Layer

Most of the papers in the network layer can be linked to SIGSEC and SIGeBIZ. Authors like
Bamert et al. (2013), Gervais et al. (2014a) and Singh et al. (2013) research SPV clients that
allow e-Commerce transactions on smart devices. Others analyze privacy and anonymity in the
Bitcoin network (e.g. Biryukov et al. 2014 and Reid and Harrigan 2011) and describe methods to
re-establish privacy in Bitcoin transactions (Bissias et al. 2014). These papers could have the
chance to be accepted for AMCIS 2015 - Information Systems Security and Privacy (SIGSEC)
Track organized by SIGSEC. The paper from Anish Dev (2014) can be linked to the SIG
Services (SIGSVC) community, as the author researches collaborative mining methods and
contributes to "Service and crowd-sourcing or micro-tasking" (Böhmann 2014). Only for Luo et
al. (2013), it was not possible to align an IS research area.

Ecosystem Layer

As the number of papers researching the ecosystem layer is higher, the research is more
multifaceted. Again, most of the papers would raise interest in the communities of SIGBeIZ and
SIGSEC. Papers like Grier (2014), Peck (2013) and van Alstyne (2014) give insights into digital
currencies and might be of interest for the communities of SIGeBiz. New services and business
models in cryptocurrencies (e.g. securing cloud computing applications by using Bitcoins as
deposit) might stimulate new research from the SIGSVC community. Security and risk exposure
are also discussed in the reviewed papers. Selling and purchasing illicit goods using Bitcoins
(Christin 2013) or money laundering (Moser et al. 2013, Stokes 2012) exemplify potential
eCrimes while using Bitcoins. Cryptocurrency research can be relevant for the SIG Adoption and
Diffusion of Information Technology (SIGADIT) as well. Papers like Bohr and Bashir (2014)
and Glaser et al. (2014) give insights into the Bitcoin community and discuss how "individuals
become aware of, decide to use, and appropriate" (Jeyaraj 2015) cryptocurrencies.

Open Research Questions

Shaw et al. 2015 Overall it can be stated, that research about cryptocurrencies have a strong
alignment to E-Business and Security, because cryptocurrencies are an example for "Internet-
based payment models" (Shaw et al. 2015) using cryptographic methods to build up secure and
trustful transactions. Nevertheless, a full understanding about cryptocurrencies has not been
reached yet. More investigation should also be done in the field of the influence of culture on
cryptocurrencies. Although mentioned in a few papers (e.g. Bohr and Bashir 2014), the focus of
the reviewed papers still lies on anonymous transactions without cultural influences ( Glaser et
al. 2014, Meiklejohn et al. 2013). However, due to cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin as a
currency scheme crossing national borders, cultural issues are an important aspect nowadays.
This is a possible area for future research.
CoinDesk 2015a New business models are not discussed in cryptocurrency research so far.
Nevertheless, I see entrepreneurs who have built up their businesses around cryptocurrencies,
especially Bitcoin (CoinDesk 2015b). In addition, more and more merchants accept Bitcoin as a
payment method (CoinDesk 2015a). It is a possible future research area to understand the
motivation of the entrepreneurs and merchant to participates, which business models they use
and which approaches they use to form the ecosystem. Cryptocurrencies present a challenge for
the existing financial industries as potential clients using alternative financial tools and methods
without banking support (e.g. van Alstyne 2014). Banks but also intermediaries like consultants
or insurances have to change and adapt their business models to become Cryptocurrencies and
Bitcoin Twenty-first Americas Conference on Information Systems, Puerto Rico, 2015 12
member of the cryptocurrency ecosystem or built up trust or alternatives to be more attractive for
these potential clients (Palmer 2015). This is also a possible area for future research.

CoinDesk 2015b Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin had to face extreme events and disruptions in
the recent past. Examples are the lost Bitcoins from the largest Bitcoin exchanges Mt.Gox and
Bitstamp, which have let to distrust in the Bitcoin ecosystem and might harm cryptocurrencies as
a whole (CoinDesk 2015b). It is not clear, how and why these crisis and disruptions occur and
how the users of the cryptocurrencies react to this events.

As stated above, research methods examining cryptocurrencies are oftentimes quantitative and
design science oriented. The valuable results need to be complemented with qualitative methods.
First approaches can be found (Taylor 2013) but a stronger inclusion of qualitative methods in
the research process and mixed-methods approaches is an important future research question.
Research on cryptocurrencies, however, is not limited to the IS field of research. It might be
worthwhile exploring other disciplines, such as business, law, organizational science and
sociology. This could lead to an interdisciplinary field of research and lead to a fruitful
enrichment of practice as well as academic. For further research, it might be also reasonable to
analyze cryptocurrencies from a more sociomaterial perspective.

Similar to all markets, even in cryptocurrencies, traders continue shifting their loyalties
from Bitcoin to altcoins, which results in one outperforming the other. While comparing the
performance of the top 5 cryptocurrencies in the third quarter of this year, Bitcoin has emerged
as the leader, gaining 74%. Bitcoin Cash was not considered, as it did not trade for the full
quarter.
The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum, turned out a weak
performance, rising only 8% in the third quarter. This is in stark contrast to its staggering rally of
500% in the second quarter of this year.

This shows that traders will make money only if they are invested in the right cryptocurrency.
Let’s find the most promising one to trade now.
 OBJECTIVES:

1. To know the various types of Cryptocurrency.

2. To know the performance of Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum.
\

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
BTC/USD

We have carried long positions in Bitcoin for both the swing traders and the aggressive traders.
Both these positions are currently in a profit. What should the traders do now?

Bitcoin has risen from the critical support levels of $4114 to $4170, according to our
expectations. If the digital currency breaks out of $4488, it is likely to rally to $4680 levels. This
is the last resistance before a retest of the highs at $5000.

Therefore, swing traders should continue to hold their positions, but they should raise their stop
loss from $4000 to $4100. They should tighten their stops further once the digital currency
breaks out of $4488.

The aggressive traders should book 30% of their profits at the current levels of $4387 and hold
the rest with a stop loss of $4100. This will reduce their risk on the existing positions. Once
Bitcoin rallies above $4488, they should again raise their stop loss to breakeven and book partial
profits at $4680.

Our bullish view on bitcoin will be invalidated if it turns down and breaks below $4100 levels.
That can extend the fall to $3909 and $3731 levels, which are 38.2% and 50% Fibonacci
retracement levels of the pullback from $2974 to $4488.01.
ETH/USD

Ethereum has spent the past few days consolidating in a tight range. This shows an equilibrium
between both the bulls and the bears. Neither party is able to overpower the other. However, this
is unlikely to continue for long. One of the two will emerge as a winner.

If Ethereum breaks out of the upper end of the range at $317, it is likely to start a new uptrend,
which has a pattern target of $354. Therefore, we recommend a long position on the digital
currency at $317.

The initial stop loss can be kept at $278, which should be raised as the cryptocurrency moves
higher. The stops should be tightened further if Ethereum struggles to breakout of the overhead
resistance at $344.

If, however, the bears manage to push Ethereum below $278, it will open up a downside of
$257.94, which is the 50% Fibonacci retracement level of the pullback from $200.15 to $315.72.
BCH/USD

Bitcoin Cash is attempting to stabilize after breaking down of the range. However, compared to
the other cryptocurrencies, it still lacks buying interest.

We have been cautious on Bitcoin Cash for the past few days. The digital currency continues to
trade below both the critical moving averages and the downtrend line. This shows that it remains
in a downtrend. Therefore, we don’t recommend a long trade on Bitcoin Cash.

The first target on the downside is $300 if Bitcoin Cash is unable to climb above $385.

On the other hand, if the cryptocurrency rallies above the downtrend line and the 20-day EMA, it
will signal strength.

Traders who trade only Bitcoin Cash can buy at $436 and keep a stop loss of $336. The profit
objective is $549.

Rest of the traders are better off trading other cryptocurrencies.

XRP/USD

Our long position in Ripple continues to make gains. It is close to our target objective of
$0.25000. Should traders book profits?

The downtrend line at $0.25000 is likely to offer a strong resistance. However, if the digital
currency breaks out of it, a rally to $0.3000o is possible.

Therefore, traders can book partial profits, about 30% at the current levels and raise the stops on
the remaining position to breakeven.

This will ensure that the traders pocket some profits and the remaining position becomes risk-
free.

They should continue to trail their stops higher if the digital currency breaks out of the
downtrend line.
LTC/USD

Currently, Litecoin is trading at the center of the range between $44.16 and $57.729. How can we trade
it?

The best way to trade in a range is to buy at the support and sell at the resistance. However, as
price is ruling at the midpoint, we don’t recommend a trade at the current levels.

Nevertheless, if Litecoin breaks out of the range, it will signal strength. Therefore, we
recommend a long position at $58 with a stop loss of $49. The target objective of this trade is
$71.

However, if the digital currency breaks below $50 and falls to $44 levels, we shall wait and
watch its performance at the lows before buying it. We don’t recommend a long position at $44
anymore because of the lack of buying interest in the digital currency.
FINDINGS:
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1] Coindesk, What can you buy with Bitcoin, 2015.

[2] L. Kehoe, D. Daltion, C. Lonowicz, T. Jankovich, Blockchain Disrupting

the Financial Services Industry?, 2015.

[3] A. Shelkovnikov, Blockchain Enigma. Paradox. Opportunity, 2016.

[4] M. Morisse, Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin: Charting the Research Land-

scape, in: Americas Conference on Information Systems, pp. 1–16.

[5] J. Manyika, C. Roxburgh, The great transformer: The impact of the

Internet on economic growth and prosperity, McKinsey Global Institute

(2011) 1–10.

[6] F. Reid, M. Harrigan, An analysis of anonymity in the bitcoin system,

Security and Privacy in Social Networks (2013) 197–223.

[7] I. Eyal, E. G. Sirer, Majority is not Enough: Bitcoin Mining is Vulner-

able, 2013

[8] G. O. Karame, E. Androulaki, S. Capkun, Double-spending fast pay-

ments in bitcoin, Proceedings of the 2012 ACM conference on Computer

and communications security. (2012).

[9] F. Glaser, L. Bezzenberger, Beyond Cryptocurrencies - A Taxonomy of

Decentralized Consensus Systems, in: European Conference on Infor-

mation Systems, 57, pp. 1–18.

[10] J. Webster, R. T. Watson, Analyzing the Past to Prepare for the Future:

Writing a Literature Review., MIS Quarterly 26 (2002) xiii – xxiii.