A Modeling Approach for Blockchain-inspired Business Models: An Extension of the e3 -Value Method

Abstract

Blockchain enables new ways of organizing economic activities. Blockchain promises to reduce costs and time associated with intermediaries and strengthen trust in an ecosystem of actors. The impact of this promising technology is reflected in an emerging stream of research and various companies exploring the potential uses of blockchain technology and building new blockchain-inspired business models. While there are promising use cases of this new technology, research and practice are still in their early stages in terms of changing existing and creating new business models. We propose an extension of the e3 -value method to capture and represent the characteristics of blockchain-inspired business models. The approach is particularly useful for the value-based analysis of blockchain-inspired business models and the fundamental economic evaluation of these. It provides the foundation for capturing, communicating, innovating and experimenting with blockchain-inspired business models. We demonstrate the practicality of the extended e3 -value method by evaluating and applying it to an existing blockchain business model.