An Exploratory Study on Trust in Blockchain-Enabled Energy Trading

This exploratory study investigates the relationship between trust and blockchain technology (BCT) in peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading within smart grids. The research highlights the various benefits BCT brings to P2P energy trading, such as improved efficiency, cost reduction, and the optimization of renewable energy distribution. However, it also identifies significant barriers to the contribution of BCT to the removal of trust in this context. The paper explores how trust is established in blockchain systems and the paradoxical need for trust among parties for BCT adoption in energy trading, despite its trust-removing premise, due to its reliance on oracles for data collection. It also examines the blockchain trilemma and how solutions to the lack of scalability might reintroduce centralisation, affecting trust in BCT-enabled P2P energy trading. The study suggests that BCT may not be able to remove the need for trust and trusted intermediaries in P2P energy trading and calls for more qualitative research to assess the actual impact of BCT on trust in P2P energy trading and to compare traditional and blockchain-based systems in this domain.