Why is a Ravencoin Like a TokenDesk? An Exploration of Code Diversity in the Cryptocurrency Landscape
This addresses the issue of scams and lack of innovation in cryptocurrencies for investors and developers, but it is incremental as it builds on existing analysis methods.
The paper tackled the problem of assessing innovation in cryptocurrencies by analyzing open-source repositories, finding that while many are copies of Bitcoin, Ethereum has enabled more diverse functionalities.
Interest in cryptocurrencies has skyrocketed since their introduction a decade ago, with hundreds of billions of dollars now invested across a landscape of thousands of different cryptocurrencies. While there is significant diversity, there is also a significant number of scams as people seek to exploit the current popularity. In this paper, we seek to identify the extent of innovation in the cryptocurrency landscape using the open-source repositories associated with each one. Among other findings, we observe that while many cryptocurrencies are largely unchanged copies of Bitcoin, the use of Ethereum as a platform has enabled the deployment of cryptocurrencies with more diverse functionalities.