The Human Factor in Blockchain Ecosystems: A Sociotechnical Framework

As blockchain development continues at an ever-increasing pace, an increasing number of individual actors and organizations throughout entire econ-omies get into contact with the technology. Furthermore, the growing collabora-tion of companies, customers, suppliers, and other actors is evolving into a mul-tilateral network between the parties engaged with the technology. Therefore, to understand blockchain-based business models and innovations, it is necessary to understand human interactions within blockchain ecosystems. Consequently, this paper offers new insights concerning the role of human actors within blockchain ecosystems. For this purpose, the structure within and around the Ethereum-blockchain is analyzed using existing literature on the Ethereum ecosystem and Sociotechnical systems. The analysis results are then placed in their context and summarized in a framework for comparable ecosystems.