| Because of the limited amount of available research that combines SCF and BCT, it was necessary to refer to the literature on the general topics of SCF, securitisation and BCT, which included industry related working papers, reports and online resources such as blogs and websites. The seminal work that first presented the technical features of the technology is the white paper written under the alias of Nakamoto (2009). After Bitcoin gained popularity, research began to examine the discussions related to the technical features of this technology (Antonopoulos 2014) and its limitations (e.g. Dwyer and Malone 2014; Greenspan 2015; Sams 2015). Following the success of Bitcoin and the increased interest in this new technology, new solutions and blockchain ‘designs’ were presented in various technical papers that described the new features (e.g. Buterin 2013, 2015; Vasin n.a; Schwartzer et al. 2014). Later, the new Turing-complete blockchain feature fostered discussions on ‘smart contracts’, of which the principles were first described by Szabo (1994) and discussed in relation to blockchain solutions in research papers and blog articles (e.g. Flood and Goodenough 2015; Gendal 2015; Greenspan 2016). A broad understanding of the different blockchain designs, applications and use cases can be found in Swanson (2015). Once an overview of the technology’s features and limitations was attained, a large group of research and working papers began to examine the different uses of this technology and its potential applications in a wide range of services and activities. Particularly relevant for our book are various working papers and industry reports that discuss the application of the technology in financial markets (e.g. ESMA 2016; Oliver Wyman and Euroclear 2016; Mainelli and Milne 2016; McKinsey & Co 2015; GBST 2016), for identity database management (e.g. Mainelli and Smith 2015; Biella and Zinetti 2016; Deloitte 2016) and for supply chain management (e.g. Bauerle 2016; Camerinelli 2016). Because of the pace with which developments around this topic occur and the topic’s nature, the use of online resources such as websites (e.g. blockchain.info, bitcoin. it or coindesk.com) and blogs (e.g. ‘gendal.me’ or ‘bits on blocks’) were helpful in ascertaining awareness of the current status of this technology and obtaining some helpful thoughts and insights. Particularly challenging was the effort to not confuse the literature concerning Bitcoin with that examining the underlying technology (i.e. the blockchain). Useful inputs for defining and describing approved payables financing (or buyer-centric) techniques were gathered from industry papers that describe the general SCF ecosystem and the key categories of SCF instruments (e.g. Aite Group 2014; GSCFF 2015; Templar et al. 2016) and from research analysing the SCF market and the financial drivers of companies engaged in such solutions (Hofmann and Belin 2011). Other contributions were made by Seifert and Seifert (2009), who underlined the principal differences between supplier- and buyer-centric reverse factoring models; contributions were also made by papers and articles that discussed the role of technology platforms as key enablers of such financing 4 1 Introduction—Why to Pay Attention on Blockchain … programmes (e.g. Leonard 2015; Zakai 2015). Key challenges for SCF are discussed in Camerinelli and Bryant (2014) and in an APEC working paper (2015), with the latter only specifically addressing regulatory issues |
