Investigating the early cryptocurrency market dynamics and the emerging trends of industry applications in blockchain

Abstract

The financial crisis in 2008 raised serious doubts that centralized structure of the traditional financial industry cannot be trusted anymore. Doubts led to the advent of new fundamental technology (i.e. blockchain), which is proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto to achieve decentralization of existing services. Blockchain is also known as the distributed ledger technology that enables transparent and secure transactions with potential to disrupt the technological landscape of various industries. By the time when blockchain was first introduced, research interests and applications were restricted to financial areas. However, in the era of Industry 4.0, the scope of blockchain technology expands beyond mere digital transactions. Interests in blockchain technology from both academia and industry suggests that blockchain is now at the center of innovation. In this thesis, the development and future of blockchain technology are examined with two different studies. The first study examines the early cryptocurrency market with event study approach in order to reveal determinants of market reaction due to regulation announcements. The second study predicts emerging industrial fields that will incorporate blockchain technology as a disruptive technology based on topic modeling analysis and academia-industry dynamics.