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Detecting Text Reuse in Cryptocurrency Whitepapers

Morin, A; Vasek, M; Moore, T; (2021) Detecting Text Reuse in Cryptocurrency Whitepapers. In: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC). IEEE: Sydney, Australia. Green open access

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Abstract

Thousands of new cryptocurrencies have been introduced in recent years. Most are introduced with a so-called "whitepaper" containing a mix of technical documentation, legal boilerplate and marketing material. Notably, many proposed currencies reuse text from previous established cryptocurrencies. We analyze the whitepapers from 1 260 actively traded cryptocurrencies and 2 039 ICOs. We develop two measures of similarity. Moderately similar papers reuse text in a portion of the paper, often the legal disclaimers. By contrast, some highly similar whitepapers appear to copy most of the text. 4% of coin and 19% of ICO whitepapers are highly similar to those of traded coins. The fraction rises to 64% for coins and 67% for ICOs when we consider moderate text reuse.

Type: Proceedings paper
Title: Detecting Text Reuse in Cryptocurrency Whitepapers
Event: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC)
Dates: 03 May 2021 - 06 May 2021
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1109/icbc51069.2021.9461147
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICBC51069.2021.9461147
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, ICO, Text Reuse, Fraud
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10133235
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