We provide an overview of crypto-related scams, including investment scams, Ponzi schemes, and more recently, rug pulls that are commonly seen in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) projects. We then discuss data sources for studying Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scams, before examining the case of...

This handbook provides an overview of various criminal activities related to cryptocurrencies, including investment scams, Ponzi schemes, rug pulls, ransomware attacks, money laundering, and darknet markets. We discuss the need for user protection and education, centralized entities and...

We document characteristics-based return anomalies in a large cross-section (4,000) of crypto assets. Cryptocurrency returns exhibit momentum in the largest-cap group, reversals in other size groups, and strong crypto value and network adoption premia, from which we derive two novel factors to...

We study investors' responses to increasing tax reporting awareness and scrutiny in the crypto markets. We document significant taxation effects on investors' behavior and preferences for crypto exchanges using novel data on retail investors' trading. In relation to international peers,...

We describe the landscape of taxation in the crypto markets, especially that concerning U.S. taxpayers, and examine how recent increases in tax scrutiny have led to changes in trading behavior by crypto traders. We predict under a simple theoretical framework and then empirically document that...

While the advent of cryptocurrencies and digital assets holds promise for improving and disrupting financial systems by offering cheap, quick, and secure transfer of value, it also opens up new payment channels for cybercrimes. A prerequisite to solving a problem is understanding the nature of...

Oracles are software components that enable data exchange between siloed blockchains and external environments, enhancing smart contract capabilities and platform interoperability. Integration through oracle networks for blockchain and DeFi platforms allows them to be informationally and...

Governments and corporations frequently auction assets with embedded real options using both cash and contingent bids. I characterize equilibrium bidding and option exercise strategies, and find that the moral hazard associated with uncontractible investment timing inefficiently and...

Public equity is an important source of risk capital, especially in China. The Chinese government has occasionally suspended IPOs, exposing firms already approved to IPO to indeterminate listing delays. The temporary bar on going public increases uncertainty about access to public markets for...

Economic activities such as crowdfunding often involve sequential interactions, observational learning, and project implementation contingent on achieving certain thresholds of support. We incorporate endogenous all-or-nothing thresholds in a classic model of information cascade. We find that...