The Cryptocurrency Era (Research Paper Sample)

Instructions:

Research Paper Using Word

This assignment has two goals: 1) have students increase their understanding of ethical issues related to the use of information technology through research, and 2) learn to correctly use the tools and techniques within Word to format a research paper, including use of available References and citation tools. These skills will be valuable throughout a student’s academic career. The paper will require a title page, NO abstract, three to five full pages of content with incorporation of a minimum of 3 external resources from credible sources and a Works Cited/References page. Wikipedia and similar general information sites, blogs or discussion groups are not considered creditable sources for a research project. No more than 10% of the paper may be in the form of a direct citation from an external source.

A list of topics from which students can choose is provided below.

Topics for Research Paper
The focus of the paper should be on the following:

1. how information technology supports or makes possible biometrics and its various implementations, and potential ethical and privacy issues related to the use of biometrics.
2. how information technology supports or makes possible the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent agents (such as Siri, Cortana, etc.) and potential ethical and privacy issues related to AI.
3. how information technology supports or makes possible the development of robots as intelligent as humans, smart machines and the IoT, What potential benefits and risks can/will robots introduce?
4. how information technology supports or makes possible genome-based treatments for curing diseases, and potential ethical and privacy issues that might result from use of such treatments.
5. how information technology impacts family, eldercare, and parenting issues, and potential ethical and privacy issues introduced by the use of information technology and information systems in this area
6. how information technology has enhanced the use of computer-assisted education in the elementary school classroom, and the possible positive and negative impacts this enhancement provides.
7. issues facing the IT Manager or Security professional (e.g., privacy, ownership, control, accuracy, and security) in an environment where information technology is constantly expanding and changing.
8. how information technology plays a role in the era of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, WikiLeaks, et and the impact on defense information systems
9. how information technology plays a role in the rise (and fall) of cryptocurrency and the positive and negatives of switching to the bitcoin environment.

If there is another topic that addresses ethical issues as related to information technology that is of special interest to you but one that is not in the list above, request permission from your instructor before selecting this alternate topic.

Writing Quality for the Research Paper
* All Grammar, Verb Tenses, Pronouns, Spelling, Punctuation, and Writing Competency should be without error.

* Be particularly careful about mis-matching a noun and pronoun. For example, if you say "A person does this…" then do not use "their" or "they" when referring to that person. "Person" is singular; "their" or "they" is plural.

* Remember: there is not their, your is not you're, its is not it's, too is not to or two, site is not cite, and who should be used after an individual, not that. For example, "the person WHO made the speech" not "the person THAT made the speech."

* In a professional paper one does not use contractions (doesn't, don't, etc.) and one does not use the personal I, you or your. Use the impersonal as in the previous sentence. It is more business-like to say "In a professional paper one should not use contractions," rather than saying, "In a professional paper you don't use contractions." *Remember: spell-check, then proofread. Better yet, have a friend or colleague read it before submitting it. Read it out loud to yourself. Read it as if you are submitting it to your boss.

You can find instructions on how to use the References tool in Word on a PC or on a Mac in the separate file attached here.

Complete rubrics for this paper are found in the table on the next page.

source..

Content:

The emergence of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies continues to make headlines around the world due to their rise in popularity. Digital assets in the form of cryptocurrencies are among the major trends of modern times with the internet abuzz with talk about blockchain technology. From social media to prime time news and even government legislation, it is difficult to go a week without seeing or interacting with something cryptocurrency-related. There are two sides to this conversation: one views it as a bubble while the other argues that it has the potential to disrupt the global financial system. Information technology is a forerunner of cryptocurrency that uses underlying infrastructure such as blockchain to facilitate transactions and has stirred debate between different schools of thought on the positive and negative impacts of adopting the crypto standard.
Bitcoin is the first consumer-focused cryptocurrency, and the impetus behind its creation was developing a currency that did not rely on a central bank. Implementing a network where each node is equally significant is crucial in achieving such autonomy. There are two main players in the system, the miners and the wallets that enable the actions of the ledger, or the blockchain (Serapiglia, Serapiglia, & McIntyre, 2015). The blockchain is the hub of every cryptocurrency that holds records of coin owners, the amounts, and wallet addresses. Bitcoin is an online virtual currency, unbacked by either physical commodities or sovereign obligation, which relies on cryptographic codes and a peer-to-peer networking protocol to facilitate transactions.[To view Blockchain in action, visit https://blockchain.info/.]
Satoshi Nakamoto presented the idea of Bitcoin to the world in 2008, making ownership of money anonymous, but allowing for the visibility of the cash flows. A decade later, Bitcoin continues to generate millions of profit to individuals while concurrently making losses to some investors. The whole concept would not have been feasible without the advent of Information Technology. The Digital Information Age brought unprecedented communication devices and speeds that enabled the building of global network infrastructure for people all over the world. At the core of the global financial system is the US Dollar – the US Treasury is essentially a de facto central bank for world nations. Cryptocurrency started to disrupt this form of centralization in an aim to bring financial power back to people’s hands. Therefore, Nakamoto built a platform that could challenge the US Dollar Standard.[Nakamoto’s paper is accessible to anyone online. See National Public Radio’s segment titled “Bitcoin Creator’s Mysterious Identity Beguiles Cryptography World” for more on the story of Nakamoto’s identity.]
Revisiting the period when cash transactions were more mainstream than using credit or debit cards gives an insight into what Bitcoin can accomplish. An individual exchanged cash in return for a good or service, and no one could trace it back to the customer – paper bills did not have personal information, and banks were nonexistent as intermediaries. Bitcoin offers a similar type of quick, secure, and anonymous transaction, in the world’s current electronic monetary standards. Sarah Meiklejohn et al. (2013) defines Bitcoin as a series of transactions from one owner to the next, public keys identify owners, and addresses serve as pseudonyms; that is, owners can use addresses that are inherently different to their real-world identity to perform transactions. Cryptocurrencies have since grown and evolved witnessing both periods of stability and steep inflation.

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The Cryptocurrency Era (Research Paper Sample)

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