At the blockchain.lab at York University, we are investigating research questions that have real-life management and entrepreneurial applications of blockchains.
The following classifies the scientific activities of the blockchain.lab
Research Grants
- 2021-2024: Principal Investigator with Joann Jasiak (with Investigators: I. Henriques, S. Liaskos, D. Oppong-Tawiah, A. Podhorsky, P. Puri), “Digital Currencies.” York University Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research Clusters Initiative ($525,000).
- 2022-2024: Co-supervisor for Daniela Balutel (Co-Supervisor: Joann Jasiak) with Bank of Canada as industrial partner, “Past and current Bitcoin adopters in Canada.” MITACS Accelerate Postdoctoral Fellowship ($90,000).
- 2020: Co-investigator with Grain Discovery and Abhishek Pandey, “How Grain Discovery’s Blockchain Solution Can Enable Flexibility in the Agricultural Supply Chain in the Age of COVID-19,” MITACS Business Strategy Internship ($10,000).
- 2019: Henry Kim (Principal Investigator) with Sigma Analysis, “Exploring Application of Blockchain Technologies for Managed Investing,” Ontario Centre of Excellence – Voucher for Innovation and Productivity I Research Grant ($49,961).
- 2019: Henry Kim (Principal Investigator) with Accu-Label, “Meeting Changing Customer Requirements in Food and Agriculture through application of blockchain technology,” Ontario Centre of Excellence – Voucher for Innovation and Productivity I Research Grant ($45,000).
- 2018: Henry Kim (Principal Investigator) with Hero Engineering, “Blockchain Enabled Smart Microgrids,” Ontario Centre of Excellence – Voucher for Innovation and Productivity I Research Grant ($45,246).
- 2018: Henry Kim (Principal Investigator) with Nuco Networks, “Applying Deep Neural Networks for Blockchain Interoperability I and II,” Ontario Centre of Excellence – Voucher for Innovation and Productivity I and National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program Research Grants ($65,200).
- 2018 - 2019: Henry Kim (Collaborator) with Getu Hailu from University of Guelph, and Henry An from University of Alberta, “Trade and Competitiveness: Productivity, Innovation, and Product Differentiation,” Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs – Research Program ($151,600).
Publications
Digital Currencies: Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
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- The Digital Yuan and Cross-Border Payments: China’s Rollout of Its Central Bank Digital Currency [August 2022, Limited Access]
- Driving Through the Roadblocks: A Case for a More Proactive Approach to CBDC from Canada’s Central Bank [October 2020, Open Access]
Digital Currencies: Cryptocurrency
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- Permissionless and Permissioned, Technology-Focused and Business Needs-Driven: Understanding the Hybrid Opportunity in Blockchain through a Case Study of Insolar [June 2022, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Token Economics in Real-Life: Cryptocurrency and Incentives Design for Insolar Blockchain Network [January 2021, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Overcoming the Balkanization of Blockchain Research: Web3 is about Tokens AND Protocols AND Online Communities [December 2022, SIGBIT Conference (ICIS)]
- Addressing the Data Gap in Modeling Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint [October 2022, Open Access]
- Understanding a Revolutionary and Flawed Grand Experiment in Blockchain: Understanding the DAO Attack,” [March 2019, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- The Regulation Paradox of Initial Coin Offerings: A Case Study Approach [April 2019, Open Access]
Blockchain in Clean Energy and Climate Action
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- Towards Ontology and Blockchain Based Measurement, Reporting, and Verification For Climate Action [October 2022, Open Access]
- Blockchain Based Transactive Energy Systems for Voltage Regulation in Active Distribution Networks [May 2020, Open Access]
- A Permissioned Blockchain System to Reduce Peak Demand in Residential Communities via Energy Trading: A Real-World Case Study [December 2020, Open Access]
- Design and Field Implementation of Blockchain Based Renewable Energy Trading in Residential Communities [November 2019, Limited Access] [Open Access]
Blockchain in the Enterprise
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- Permissionless and Permissioned, Technology-Focused and Business Needs-Driven: Understanding the Hybrid Opportunity in Blockchain through a Case Study of Insolar [June 2022, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Towards an Ontology-Driven Blockchain Design for Supply Chain Provenance [March 2018, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Blockchain: Too Intangible to Be Intangible or More Tangible Than Many Tangibles? [March 2022, CPA Ontario's UpNext Digital Professional Development Magazine]
- Meeting Changing Customer Requirements in Food and Agriculture Through Application of Blockchain Technology [February 2021, Open Access]
- Agriculture on the Blockchain: Sustainable Solutions for Food, Farmers, and Financing [December 2017, Open Access]
- Business in the Front, Crypto in the Back: How to Be a Blockchain Startup in Finance,” [January 2021, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Blockchain in Commercial Insurance: Managing Risk in a Digitally Transformed Business Landscape [August 2019, Open Access]
- What's Next in Blockchain Research? -An Identification of Key Topics Using a Multidisciplinary Perspective [February 2021, Limited Access]
- Blockchain in Finance, Accounting, and Economics
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- Thinking Outside the Block: Projected Phases of Blockchain Integration in the Accounting Industry [February 2019, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- A Simple Macroeconomic Model of Decentralized Emission Markets Based on the Solow Growth Model [May 2020, Open Access]
- A Discussion on Decentralization in Financial Industry and Monetary System [May 2020, Limited Access]
Blockchain Infrastructure and Technology
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- Proof-of-Useful-Work as Dual-Purpose Mechanism for Blockchain and AI: Blockchain Consensus that Enables Privacy Preserving Data Mining [March 2021, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Workflow Management on Proof-of-Work Blockchains - Implications and Recommendations [January 2021, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- Workflow Management on BFT Blockchains [February 2019, Limited Access] [Open Access]
- A First Step in the Co-Evolution of Blockchain and Ontologies: Towards Engineering an Ontology of Governance at the Blockchain Protocol Level [January 2018, Open Access]
- Kim, Henry M. and Marek Laskowski (2017). “A Perspective on Blockchain Smart Contracts: Reducing Uncertainty and Complexity in Value Exchange [July 2017, Limited Access] [Open Access]
In the Media
- July 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed for the Technality Podcast of the Narcity Network, titled Mining For Crypto, Praying For Gold.
- April 2022: Prof. Kim was exclusively interviewed for a Reader's Digest Canada Article titled Is Bitcoin the Future of Money.
- January 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed for an article on CBC.ca titled With so many cryptocurrencies, why do any of them have value?... He sold the NFT of his dog for $30, which was then donated to a dog shelter.
- June 2021: Prof. Kim was exclusively interviewed on Global News to talk about NFTs.
- March 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed for a CBC TV segment on Business in the Metaverse.
- July 2022: Prof. Kim presented The Blockchain Story in 2022: Cryptos, NFTs, Web3, and more to York University's Scholar's Hub.
- June 14, 2022: Prof. Kim was exclusively interviewed by CBC Radio stations in Toronto, Montreal, Sudbury, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Kelowna (start from 1:06:33 mark), Edmonton, and Calgary to talk about the crash in bitoin and cryptocurrencies prices.
- May 2022: Prof. Kim discussed bitcoin and cryptocurrencies on the Resuming Debates podcast hosted by Garnett Genuis, Member of Parliament from Alberta.
- May 12,2022: Prof. Kim was exclusively interviewed on CBC Radio's As It Happens to talk about the crash in bitoin and cryptocurrencies prices (start from 53:33 mark).
- April 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed by Financial Post's Canadian Family Office Magazine for an article titled Beyond Cryptocurrency: DeFi and Blockchain
- April 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed by York University YFile for an article on the Digital Currencies Project.
- March 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed for a Wealthsimple Magazine article titled How the Brutal War in Ukraine Could Also Change Crypto.
- March 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed for an Aparagus Magazine article titled Crypto is a Gamble for Your Wallet and the Planet.
- February 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed by Financial Pipeline Magazine for an article titled Why are people still betting on crypto?.
- January 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed by York University Magazine for an article titled The NFTease.
- January 2022: Prof. Kim was interviewed by Financial Post's Canadian Family Office Magazine for an article titled Arbitrage may be one way to invest in volatile cryptocurrency.
- January 2022: Prof. Kim was exclusively interviewed by Shaye Ganam on CHED 630 Radio Edmonton to talk about investing in cryptocurrencies.
- July 2021: Prof. Kim was interviewed for a Maclean's Magazine article titled How business schools are dealing with the rise in cryptocurrency.
- March 2021: Prof. Kim was interviewed for a National Post artlcled titled What are NFTs? The new digital assets raking in millions, explained.
- March 2021: Prof. Kim was interviewed for a Coin Telegraph Magazine article titled Bitcoin payday? Crypto to revolutionize job wages… or not.
In the Community
- Numerous Presentations to Companies, Startups Non-Profit Foundation Investment Clubs, Government and Regulatory Bodies, Blockchain Trainee Programs, and on behalf of Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
- Johnson Jose Matthew and Henry Kim. A Report on Cryptocurrency Mining for Protocol Labs, Filecoin, Sept 2023.
- Henry Kim (Finance Chair). IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, May 2022.
- Henry Kim (Finance Chair) and Marek Laskowski (Patrons Chair). IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency, May 2020, Toronto.
- Henry Kim, Co-Organizer (2017-). Fields Institute Seminar Series on Blockchain
- Marek Laskowski, Vice-Chair (2020-). United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).
- Marek Laskowski, Section Lead (2017-20). "Blockchain and UN CE/FACT," United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).
- Marek Laskowski, Co-Organizer (2019-). Toronto Blockchain Week
- Henry Kim and Marek Laskowski, Nominee. Award for New Frontiers in Blockchain Research (2019).
- 2017 - present: Henry Kim, Academic Advisor along with select Canadian scholars, "Trusted Data: Understanding Digital Ledger Technology," White Paper for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
- 2017 - 2018: Marek Laskowski, Instructor, "Certified Ethereum Development Course," Lassonde Professional Development Centre, York University.
- 2018 - present: Henry Kim, Instructor, "Emerging Technologies: Business Implications and Opportunities," Schulich Executive Education Centre, York University.
- 2017 - present: Marek Laskowski and Henry Kim, Frequent guest speaker on Blockchain at various conferences and lectures.
- 2017 - present: Henry Kim and Marek Laskowski, on various Organizing Committee for academic workshops and conferences related to blockchain.
The Team
Co-Founders
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- Henry Kim (PhD, Toronto).
- Marek Laskowski (PhD, Manitoba).
Project Leads
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- Daniela Balutel (PhD, Université d'Orléans)
- Divinus Oppong-Tawiah (Assistant Professor, York)
- Silviana Tana (Assistant Professor, Australian National University)
- Hjalmar Turesson (Adjunct Professor, York)
- Stephane Jonsson (PhD, York)
- Johnson Jose Matthew (MBA, York)
- Pradeep Kumar Prakasam (PhD, Nanyang)
Alumni
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- Shivam Saxena (Assistant Professor, UNB)
- Ushnish Sengupta (Assistant Professor, Algoma)
- Michelle Tong (PhD, York)
- Charlie Shier (JD, Harvard)
- Ilan Kogan (JD/MBA, Yale/Harvard)
- Bita Ghiasi (JD/MBA, York)
- Alfred Ruoxi Zhang (PhD in progress, London School of Economics)
- Izhar Mehar (MBAN, York)
- Maria Karajovic (BBA, York)
- Harleen Chohan (BBA, York)
- Karl Camota (Blockchain Certificate, George Brown College)
- Adrienne Adjeleian (iBBA, York)
- Oana Jurjica (iBBA, York)
- Ruhama Quadir (iBBA, York)
- Harleen Narula (BBA, York)
- Ali El-Shayeb (iBBA, York)
- Adrian Ho (iBBA, York)
- Milan Jankovic (BBA, York)
- Jackie Cheung (BBA, York)
- Iryna Gel (BBA, York)
- James You (BBA, York)
- Michael Dunwoody (BBA, York)
- Amir Sajad (MBA, York)
- Jiye Li (PhD, Waterloo)