Location
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
7-1-2025 12:00 AM
End Date
10-1-2025 12:00 AM
Description
This study investigates the impact of grants on user activity and project innovation within the Arbitrum mainnet network, an under-explored area in blockchain research. Using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) methodology, the study compares projects that received grants to those that did not. Results show that grants significantly boost user engagement, with grant-supported projects seeing approximately 40,280 additional transactions per week. However, grants also correlate with a decline in innovation, as evidenced by 10.22 fewer weekly updates on grant-supported projects. These findings suggest that while grants increase user activity by focusing attention on familiar and secure projects, they may inadvertently hinder innovation and reinforce oligopolistic tendencies. The study highlights the need for balanced grant policies in IT platforms to ensure both user engagement and ongoing innovation.
Recommended Citation
Seo, Wonbin and Ahn, Jae-Hyeon, "IT Platform Grants - Boosting User Engagement but Hindering Innovation : Evidence from Blockchain Mainnet" (2025). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2025 (HICSS-58). 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/in/web3_technologies/5
IT Platform Grants - Boosting User Engagement but Hindering Innovation : Evidence from Blockchain Mainnet
Hilton Waikoloa Village, Hawaii
This study investigates the impact of grants on user activity and project innovation within the Arbitrum mainnet network, an under-explored area in blockchain research. Using the Difference-in-Differences (DID) methodology, the study compares projects that received grants to those that did not. Results show that grants significantly boost user engagement, with grant-supported projects seeing approximately 40,280 additional transactions per week. However, grants also correlate with a decline in innovation, as evidenced by 10.22 fewer weekly updates on grant-supported projects. These findings suggest that while grants increase user activity by focusing attention on familiar and secure projects, they may inadvertently hinder innovation and reinforce oligopolistic tendencies. The study highlights the need for balanced grant policies in IT platforms to ensure both user engagement and ongoing innovation.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-58/in/web3_technologies/5