Research Design

The digital currency (also known as digital money) represents an online mean of payment that

differs significantly from the classic means of payments such as cash, cheque, credit, debit or

bank transfer. The digital money preserves a series of properties from the physical currencies,

having the advantages of allowing instant transactions and transfers to be made. Similar to the

classic means of payment, the digital currencies can be used to pay for a wide range of goods and

services. From a historical point of view, the digital money have emerged consequently to the

development of the cryptography. Obviously, when a sequence of bits becomes a digital

representation of a monetary value that can be used for paying different goods or services, users

might have their own doubts regarding the security of their money and of the associated

transactions. Even the most secure cryptographic algorithms can be attacked. For example, the

users might be concerned to find out if the digital money is genuine or if they risk having their

money stolen and used by others, one of the most widely known problems being the so-called

"double-spending issue". However, the implications for payment system efficiency are still to be

determined, and potential risks may arise from the operation of these schemes. In addition, they

may also raise a number of policy issues for central banks and other authorities. In the near term,

the policy issues for central banks are likely to centre on the payment system implications.

However, should digital currencies and distributed ledgers become widely used (potentially also

for large-value transactions or for other asset types beyond funds transfers), their impact on other

areas of responsibility for central banks, such as payment system oversight and regulation,

financial stability and monetary policy, might become more prominent. Currently, digital

currency schemes are not widely used or accepted, and they face a series of challenges that could

limit their future growth. As a result, their influence on financial services and the wider economy
is negligible today, and it is possible that in the long term they may remain a product for a

limited user base on the fringes of mainstream financial services. However, the operation of

some digital currency schemes in recent years indicates the feasibility of using distributed

ledgers for peer-to-peer value transfers in the absence of a trusted third party. As such, various

features of distributed ledger technology may have potential to improve some aspects of the

efficiency of payment services and financial market infrastructures (FMIs) in general. In

particular, these improvements might arise in circumstances where intermediation through a

central party is not currently cost-effective.

Digital currencies based on the use of a distributed ledger represent a genuinely new

development in the payments landscape. Nevertheless, many of the factors that have spurred the

development of digital currencies have also stimulated innovation in more traditional payment

methods. Reduced cost and increased speed, including in the areas of e-commerce and cross-

border transactions, are some of the factors underpinning both digital currency development and

broader payment system innovation. In particular, it is worth highlighting the role of technology

in driving the development of digital currencies and other innovations.

Participants

The research participants in this study will be well recognized companies which developed their

own digital currencies. One of these cases will be the research case on recognizing and

addressing ethical concerns. Therefore, only well developed companies will participate in this

study. All data will be collected from companies with their consent to participate in this research

project. All companies will see the case, but only those consenting to participate in this study

will have their data analyzed. Companies will not receive any incentives for participating in this
study and their grades will not be affected because they chose to or chose not to participate in

this study. It is permissible to reveal the list of participants by either organization name or job

title or job function unless to do so would risk identifying the participants. when obtaining

permission or consent for identification details or attributed answers to be passed to a client,

participants must be fully informed about what will be revealed and to whom. Participants

should also be reassured that it will only be used for research purposes before the start of the

interview.

Instrumentation

For collection of data from the respondents who are located at a long distance and do not have

any communication facility. They can be contacted through mailed questionnaire. Only thing is

required that the researcher should have the postal addresses of the respondents. The

questionnaire may be handed to the respondents or mailed to them, but in all cases they are

returned to the researcher via mail. The cost involved is very less but no clarification can be

given to the respondents if required. Respondents can answer at their own convenience. The

respondents cannot be biased by the researchers and the detail information can be collected 12

for the research purpose. Only one disadvantage this instrument gives is that the response rate is

very less due to lack of interest in the topic of respondents and low literacy rate.

Procedure

Research can be categorized multiple ways but for this workshop, I will discuss three types of

research methodologies: quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Quantitative research is a

means for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables. Qualitative

research is a means for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to
a social or human problem. Qualitative research is best used to understand concepts and

phenomenon, especially if little research has been done on the topic and research problem.

Qualitative methodology is useful if the researcher does not know important variables to

examine. Mixed methods research is an approach to inquiry that combines both qualitative and

quantitative measures. Mixed methods research is used when the quantitative or qualitative

research approach by itself is not adequate to best understand a research problem or when the

strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies provide the best

understanding of the research problem

Data Processing and Analysis

In this paper, we research and analyse the main characteristics, the evolution of the Bitcoin and

of the Alternative Coins (Alt-Coins) digital currencies, their numerous applications and

ramifications. We make an in depth analysis of the Bitcoin digital currency and of the most

significant Alternative Coins, taking into account their technical characteristics, their main

advantages and limitations. Just as it happened in the past decades with the personal computers

and Internet, the impact of these digital currencies will gradually increase in the future, leading

to major changes in our lifestyle, redefining our everyday life, economy and societyFor our

empirical analysis we combine two data sources, the bitcoin ledger and exchange trade data. The

public ledger was accessed through the site blockchain.info, which provides a human-readable

version of the data. These data consist of a complete history of all transactions moving across the

Bitcoin network from its inception in 2009 to earlyJuly 2014. We also use transaction-level trade

data that have been self-reported by the exchanges and aggregated through the site

bitcoincharts.com. These data consist of the volume, value, and exchange rate of trades that

passed through each of the exchanges. The data starts in mid-2010, with Mt. Gox being one of
the earliest exchanges to provide this service, and ends early-July 2014. We analyze data from

the six major exchanges: Mt. Gox, Bitstamp, BTCE, BTC China, OKCoin, and Bitfinex.

Summary

The concept of digital currency is therefore a fallacy, as currency cannot be digitised. When

money is digital, it takes the form of account balances. Contrary to common perception,

cryptocurrencies do not enable direct peer-to-peer transfers without intermediaries.

Cryptocurrency systems use intermediaries, so called miners, who maintain a ledger. The fact

that miners are unidentified and randomly selected for each transaction does not mean

intermediaries are not used. Cryptocurrencies, therefore, are essentially accounting systems for

non-existent assets.