Research contributions and challenges in DLT-based cryptocurrency regulation: a systematic mapping study

The purpose of this paper is to identify research that has been carried out about cryptocurrency regulation contributions and the current challenges that need to be addressed in future studies. The methodology used to conduct this research and report the findings was systematic mapping. We use this methodology to search, identify, and select all relevant primary studies on cryptocurrency regulation. The findings reveal that the key cryptocurrency regulation research topics are distributed governance, central bank digital currency, monetary policy, cryptocurrency adoption, security, regulation, cryptocurrency market, cybercrime economy and money laundering. The research proposals for cryptocurrency regulation comprise tools, protocols, methods, models, frameworks and, knowledge. The cryptocurrency regulatory challenges are cryptocurrency adoption, central bank digital currency regulation, accounting for cryptocurrencies and risk for cryptocurrencies. This systematic mapping provides an overview of the solutions proposed to regulate cryptocurrency as well as the current research challenges.