Beyond a Blockchain Paradox: How Intermediaries Can Leverage a Disintermediation Technology

Abstract

New digital technologies are changing the way organizations create and capture value. In particular, blockchain is bringing up opportunities for organizations in terms of transparency and security, and at the same time threatening the position of intermediaries such as banks and notaries. Therefore, intermediaries need to design new business models to generate value from blockchain. Little academic re-search has been conducted to identify the business models that intermediaries could exploit to leverage a disintermediation technology such as blockchain. Employing a qualitative research based on focus group and interviews, this study highlights how a specific intermediary, the Italian notaries, tried to design appropriate business models to derive value from blockchain ecosystems. Specifically, drawing on the key concepts of value configuration, value creation and business model dimensions, this paper identifies three different business models that Italian notaries can implement to create and capture value from permissionless blockchain ecosystems.