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I am a blockchain too: How does the market respond to companies’ interest in blockchain?

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  • Cahill, Daniel
  • G. Baur, Dirk
  • (Frank) Liu, Zhangxin
  • W. Yang, Joey

Abstract

We investigate the price reaction of listed companies in response to blockchain-related announcements. The average abnormal return based on a global sample of 713 firm announcements is approximately 5% on the announcement day, with significantly higher returns for U.S. firms, smaller firms and announcements in late 2017 and early 2018. We show that abnormal returns are linked to the performance of bitcoin. Additionally, speculative announcements exhibit higher returns than non-speculative announcements, and blockchain-related Form 8-K disclosures have negligible difference in performance compared to their U.S. peers. Whilst we acknowledge the possibility of a latent variable that affects both the abnormal returns and the performance of bitcoin, we hypothesise that investors have confused bitcoin and blockchain, and used the performance of bitcoin as an indicator of the expected success of the blockchain technology.

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  • Cahill, Daniel & G. Baur, Dirk & (Frank) Liu, Zhangxin & W. Yang, Joey, 2020. "I am a blockchain too: How does the market respond to companies’ interest in blockchain?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:113:y:2020:i:c:s0378426620300078
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2020.105740
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Bongini, Paola & Osborne, Francesco & Pedrazzoli, Alessia & Rossolini, Monica, 2022. "A topic modelling analysis of white papers in security token offerings: Which topic matters for funding?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    4. Sharma, Prateek & Shukla, Dhirendra Mani & Raj, Alok, 2023. "Blockchain adoption and firm performance: The contingent roles of intangible capital and environmental dynamism," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    5. Maximilian Klöckner & Christoph G. Schmidt & Stephan M. Wagner, 2022. "When Blockchain Creates Shareholder Value: Empirical Evidence from International Firm Announcements," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(1), pages 46-64, January.
    6. Chen, Ka-Hin & Lai, Tze Leung & Liu, Qingfu & Wang, Chuanjie, 2022. "Beyond the blockchain announcement: Signaling credibility and market reaction," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. André D. Gimenes & Jéfferson A. Colombo & Imran Yousaf, 2023. "Store of value or speculative investment? Market reaction to corporate announcements of cryptocurrency acquisition," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-31, December.
    8. Ysé Commandré & Catherine Macombe & Sophie Mignon, 2021. "Implications for Agricultural Producers of Using Blockchain for Food Transparency, Study of 4 Food Chains by Cumulative Approach," Post-Print hal-03351947, HAL.
    9. Cahill, Daniel & Liu, Zhangxin (Frank), 2021. "Limitations of imitation: Lessons from another Bitcoin copycat," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Emilio Abad-Segura & Mariana-Daniela González-Zamar & Eloy López-Meneses & Esteban Vázquez-Cano, 2020. "Financial Technology: Review of Trends, Approaches and Management," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-37, June.
    11. Haji Suleman Ali & Feiyan Jia & Zhiyuan Lou & Jingui Xie, 2023. "Effect of blockchain technology initiatives on firms’ market value," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, December.
    12. Ysé Commandré & Catherine Macombe & Sophie Mignon, 2021. "Implications for Agricultural Producers of Using Blockchain for Food Transparency, Study of 4 Food Chains by Cumulative Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, September.
    13. Cioroianu, Iulia & Corbet, Shaen & Larkin, Charles, 2021. "The differential impact of corporate blockchain-development as conditioned by sentiment and financial desperation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Wu, Chih-Chiang & Chen, Wei-Peng, 2022. "What's an AI name worth? The impact of AI ETFs on their underlying stocks," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    15. Frankovic, Jozo & Liu, Bin & Suardi, Sandy, 2022. "On spillover effects between cryptocurrency-linked stocks and the cryptocurrency market: Evidence from Australia," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Aharon, David Y. & Demir, Ender & Siev, Smadar, 2022. "Real returns from unreal world? Market reaction to Metaverse disclosures," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    17. Akyildirim, Erdinc & Corbet, Shaen & Sensoy, Ahmet & Yarovaya, Larisa, 2020. "The impact of blockchain related name changes on corporate performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Blockchain; Bitcoin; Announcement; Event study; Investor attention;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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