The goal of behavioral-science research is truth. The goal of design-science research is utility. — MIS Quarterly, 2004
知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。 — Confucius
Research Agenda 1: Token Platforms
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Do Users of Blockchain IT Infrastructure Value Environmental Sustainability? Evidence from Environmental Impacts Disclosures.
Under 1st round revision from JMIS (FT50)
Conferences: 2024 MIS Quarterly Virtual Paper Development Workshop, 2024 Greater Bay Area Finance Workshop
[Working paper] [Slides]Abstract
While the environmental impact has become an important IT governance agenda in recent years, it is unclear whether its disclosure is valued by token holders of platforms based on blockchain IT infrastructure and how these platforms react to changing public awareness of their environmental impacts. We consider Elon Musk's 2021 announcement that Tesla would suspend accepting Bitcoin as payment because of Bitcoin mining's environmental impact as a shock that dramatically increases awareness of Bitcoin mining's environmental impacts. We find that, subsequent to the shock, infrastructure platforms which have larger environmental impacts than application platforms, are more likely to disclose environmental impact information than application platforms and that their token market values grow at a slower rate, consistent with the increased awareness spills over to other token-based platforms. Furthermore, whereas pre-shock environmental impact disclosure by infrastructure platforms reduces token market value growth rates, post-shock disclosure has the opposite effect, consistent with green-costing and green-enhancing, respectively.
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Decentralized Voting in Product Development and Consumer Engagement: Evidence from a Blockchain-based K-Pop Community.
Under 1st round review
Conferences: ICIS 2024, CIST 2024, 2025 HKUST PhD Student Conference
Award: ICIS 2024 Best Short Paper Nominee
[Working paper]Abstract
Traditional centralized models allow consumers to provide input, but are often limited by selection biases. Instead, blockchain-based decentralized models extend all consumer voice but face sustainability challenges including unsustained contributions and voting power concentration. Utilizing data from a blockchain-based K-pop platform, this study investigates whether fans continue contributing to the platform after initially participating in voting rounds. Findings indicate that voting power becomes less concentrated over time, likely because voters who have smaller voting power value the equity of decentralized voting and increase both tangible and intangible contributions. Conversely, voters who have larger voting power experience expectation disconfirmation; they begin with high expectations about influencing outcomes but if their preferences are disappointed, they decrease tangible contributions while maintaining intangible contributions. We use value cocreation and expectation disconfirmation theory to explain the phenomenon. This study contributes to blockchain and user innovation research and offers practical insights for platform designers aiming to create equitable, sustainable consumer-driven ecosystems.
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Breaking the Barrier or Breaking the Market? Evidence from Non-Fungible Token Platforms.
In preparation for submission.
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Crisis, Transparency, and User Engagement: An Empirical Analysis of Stablecoin Platforms.
Conferences: ICIS 2024, SCECR 2025
Abstract
Public blockchains with smart contract functionality have revolutionized IT operations by enabling fully algorithmic processes and providing high transparency through realtime and detailed information disclosure. Yet, the impact of this IT operational model on user engagement remains largely unexplored. Leveraging the context of stablecoin platforms, particularly in light of the Terra-LUNA crisis, we construct a large-scale individual-level panel dataset from April 12 to June 1, 2022, and apply a cross-platform difference-in-differences approach. We find that, during crises, users can effectively distinguish between algorithmic and institutional IT operations, as well as their respective types of operational transparency. We also find that the presence of attackers switches user preferences for operational transparency. Higher levels of transparency, characterized by frequent and detailed information disclosures, may be perceived as catalysts for attacks in the post-crisis period, significantly impacting user engagement.
Research Agenda 2: Regulated Digital Currencies
Academic Papers
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Consumer Perceptions and Willingness to Adopt rCBDCs Before and After the e-HKD Pilot.
Under 2nd round review at ACM Distributed Ledger Technologies: Research and Practice
[Working paper]Abstract
This study investigates the public's perception of retail central bank digital currency (rCBDC) and identifies the factors influencing its adoption. Conducted in collaboration with a prominent bank in Hong Kong, this research involved a hands-on experience with a prototype payment system making using of an e-HKD, being an rCBDC which could be implemented in Hong Kong. Participants' opinions on rCBDCs were assessed through surveys conducted before and after their engagement with the e-HKD pilot. Initially, participants displayed a broadly positive attitude towards rCBDC, although no single factor emerged as a decisive influence on their adoption decision. However, the pilot experience statistically significantly altered perceptions, particularly regarding security, ease of payment, and promotional functions, thereby impacting their willingness to adopt rCBDC. This study underscores the importance of understanding consumer perceptions and suggests that these perceptions are subject to change through exposure to regulatory information campaigns, prototype experiences, and initial models.Consequently, the study recommends a cautious approach to interpreting the reliability of existing survey findings in this domain.
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Informational Experiment on Consumer's Perception of Central Bank Digital Currency as Liquidity Assets.
Conferences: International Conference on Central Bank Digital Currency and Payment Systems
Policy Papers
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e-HKD Pilot Programme
Published in 2023
[Summary] [Hong Kong Monetary Authority Report]Abstract
The e-HKD Pilot Programme is a key component of the HKMA's three-rail approach in paving the way for a possible implementation of a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC). The pilot programme enables HKMA's collaboration with the industry to examine innovative use cases and maximise Hong Kong's readiness for a potential e-HKD. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) was one of the institutions selected to participate. Collaborating with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), HSBC sought to explore possible e-HKD every-day payment use cases, focusing on programmability as a value-add feature of digital currency as well as payment rail efficiency. HSBC and HKUST constructed a one-week pilot on the HKUST campus, which included 148 students and 5 merchants.
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Global CBDC Challenge Report
Published in 2021
Awarded as Global CBDC Challenge Finalist (Top 5% in over 300+ submissions from 50+ countries)
[Monetary Authority of Singapore Report]Abstract
HSBC's solution analyses 12 problem statements in this Global CBDC Challenge and uses 15 dimensions (e.g. business secrecy, latency, scalability, accessibility, etc.) to measure a retail CBDC system. Their analysis and research found that consensus algorithms and related operating models are key components of CBDC design for central banks. With this in mind, HSBC built an evaluation platform to provide central banks with consensus algorithm recommendations and operating model options.
Research Agenda 3: IT Management
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IT Code Reviewer and Code Contributions: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Quasi-Experiment.
Conferences: 2024 HKUST Business PhD Student Conference, CIST 2024, SCECR 2025.
Under 1st round review
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Not Alone Online: The Effect of Human (Virtual) Peer on E-Learning Platforms.
Ready for conference submission.
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Extensional Knowledge Representation for Quantum Monte Carlo Analysis: A Design Science Approach.
Media Presence: HKUST Leadership Brief.
Under 1st round review
Other Conference Proceedings
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Software Code Quality Measurement: Implications from Metric Distributions
23rd IEEE International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability, and Security, Chiang Mai, Thailand (QRS 2023)
Short paper with oral presentation. Acceptance Rate: 21.47%.
[Paper] [Slides] [IEEE]Abstract
Software code quality is a construct with three dimensions: maintainability, reliability, and functionality. Although many firms have incorporated code quality metrics in their operations, evaluating these metrics still lacks consistent standards. We categorized distinct metrics into two types: 1) monotonic metrics that consistently influence code quality; and 2) non-monotonic metrics that lack a consistent relationship with code quality. To consistently evaluate them, we proposed a distribution-based method to get metric scores. Our empirical analysis includes 36,460 high-quality open-source software (OSS) repositories and their raw metrics from SonarQube and CK. The evaluated scores demonstrate great explainability on software adoption. Our work contributes to the multi-dimensional construct of code quality and its metric measurements, which provides practical implications for consistent measurements on both monotonic and non-monotonic metrics.
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A UTXO-based Sharding Method for Stablecoin
4th IEEE International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Applications, San Antonio, USA (BCCA 2022)
Short Paper with Oral Presentation
[Paper] [Code]
Patent
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B. Zhu, Yong Xia, Z. Li, Siyuan Jin. (2024). “Network Analysis using optical quantum computing”. International Bureau, World Intellectual Property Organization. Publication No. WO2024/007565 A1.
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Siyuan Jin, Yong Xia. (2024). “Method for implementing network consensus algorithm”. International Bureau, World Intellectual Property Organization. Publication No. WO2024/007483 A1.
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Siyuan Jin, Yong Xia. (2024). “Transaction security for multi-tier transaction networks”. International Bureau, World Intellectual Property Organization. Publication No. WO2024/007527 A1.
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Siyuan Jin, Yong Xia. (2024). “Blockchain transaction sharding for improved transaction throughput.” International Bureau, World Intellectual Property Organization. Publication No. WO2024/011707 A1.
Supervising
- 2022.10 ~ 2023.10: 7 Msc students on their year-level research projects (Co-supervised with Prof. Bei Zeng, Prof. Qiming Shao, Yuhan Huang and Yichi Zhang) [Details]
- After their research projects, Chang Xu, Shiguang Zhang, and Jiahui Wu got Ph.D. offers.
- Y. Liu received the Best Presentation Award of DDM 6980 Project Presentation.
Services
- Ad hoc Reviewer
- Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS 2024 X 2)
- International Conference on Information Systems (2023 ICIS X 2, 2024 ICIS X 2)
- the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS X 2),
- the Quantum Information Processing (QIP X 1).
- Sep 2018 ~ Mar 2019: Director, Innovation Club for Science and Technology (SCUT)
- Mar 2018 ~ Sep 2018: Member, Innovation Club for Science and Technology (SCUT)
- Quantum Finance Literature, Central Bank Digital Currency Literature
- design-and-analysis-of-algorithm