RemBit: a blockchain based solution for remittances to Ethiopia Since its introduction in the Satoshi Nakamotoxe2x80x99s Bitcoin white paper published in 2008, blockchain technology has been seen as a great opportunity to enable new business scenarios both for developed and developing countries. Considering that digital alternative payment methods represent a key factor to the smart cities development, in this study we propose an innovative payment solution aimed at improving the remittance flows by exploiting the potential of blockchain technology. Traditional banking remittance systems are characterized by high transaction fees and long transfer times, therefore they encourage the adoption of informal channels for money transfer with consequent losses in the economic system. By focusing our interest in a specific country of SubSaharan Africa, Ethiopia, we launch an innovative blockchain based system able to make the remittance process safer, faster and to allow secure and reliable transactions between the counterparts in data sharing. We describe its architecture, which enables a secure management of big data and the different stages of solution design. Furthermore, the system guarantees the compliance with the Ethiopian governmentxe2x80x99s recommendations on the matter, in particular it allows to encourage formal data collection on remittances and to support the introduction of new technology in the payments system. In addition, its use by individuals could improve awareness and financial education in Ethiopia and it can help prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism.

Blockchain for tracking serial numbers in money exchanges Money exchange is one of the most common dayxe2x80x90toxe2x80x90day activities performed by humans in the daily market. This paper presents an approach to money tracking through a blockchain. The proposed approach consists of three main components: serial number localization, serial number recognition, and a blockchain to store all transactions and ownership transfers. The approach was tested with a total of 110 banknotes of different currency types and achieved an average accuracy of 91.17%. We conducted a user study in realxe2x80x90time with 21 users, and the mean accuracy across all users was 86.42%. Each user gave us feedback on the proposed approach, and most of them welcomed the idea.