Assets on the Blockchain: An Empirical Study of Tokenomics

Abstract

Digital tokens linked to financial and economic ventures may have multiple functions and uses. In this work, we examine the relationship between various token functions and the market price of the corresponding token. We consider 86 venture related blockchain tokens, and develop the analysis through a stepwise testing of four hypotheses using panel ordinary least squares with cluster-robust standard errors. We find that token functions are statistically significant in relation to token prices. In the absence of an established legal framework, we argue that our results complements recent regulatory actions identifying tokens to be investment contracts in a common venture.

This is an original manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Information Economics and Policy, available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2020.100881.

Keywords: Blockchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Initial Coin Ordering, Tokenization, Tokenomics

JEL Classification: G32, O31