Blockchain Commerce Ecosystem

Dear Colleagues,

Blockchain, conceptualized by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, supports transacting cryptocurrencies like bitcoins. It builds on an immutable and decentralized database – thanks to advanced cryptography and peer-to-peer technology. To ensure reliability, a community of users verifies each transaction included in a block that is then added to a blockchain. The entire blockchain is then shared to everyone in the network to make sure that no record can be modified or deleted without anyone noticing it.

Besides cryptocurrencies, there are various other applications like music royalties tracking system (Mediachain), medical data transfer system (Burstiq), and transparent food supply chain system (IBM Food Trust) that run on blockchain. Even the blockchain itself comes in many forms and shapes (e.g., Ethereum, Hyperledger, etc.).

Sky is the limit is a worn out yet appropriate idiom to illustrate the opportunities blockchain offers. Take the novel blockchain-based gaming industry as an example. Inspired by Pokémon, an Ethereum-based game, Axie Infinity, which allows its players to make money through gameplay, has quickly become one of the most valuable collection of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). And it is not the only one, as CryptoBlades is also booming. Both these two games are attracting hundreds of thousands of active players. They are revolutionizing the gaming industry.

Since new applications keep emerging also in electronic commerce (e.g., bitcoin payment systems, gaming, loyalty programs, etc.), it is no surprise that many believe blockchain will transform the industry and redefine how online businesses operate in the future. Yet, there is still little research on blockchain enabled and induced applications in electronic commerce. Further research and development are also needed to overcome challenges concerning innovative blockchain based business models and strategies, particularly those that create value to online consumers.

Therefore, the goal of this special issue in Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research is to advance theoretical and applicative research in all fields of electronic commerce (e.g., mobile commerce, online advertising, payment systems, sharing economy, crowdsourcing, omni-commerce, social media, etc.). As such, the special issue offers a venue for papers that help increase our understanding of how blockchain will transform electronic commerce.

Topics

The Special Issue welcomes contributions in the following topics, but is not limited to them:

• Open and permissioned blockchains in electronic commerce
• Blockchain, security, privacy, and trust in electronic commerce
• Use of smart contract and distributed ledger in electronic commerce
• Innovative electronic commerce applications driven by blockchain
• Decentralized applications (DAPPs) in electronic commerce
• Blockchain-enabled next generation business models, applications, and value creation
• Implications of blockchain on logistics and marketing management
• Electronic commerce strategies and blockchain
• Payment systems and blockchain
• Consumer behavior and cryptocurrencies
• Blockchain-based gaming
• Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and their applications

Dr. Jani Merikivi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.