Jona Derks
Biography
After almost 15 years of running companies in the mobile- and gaming industry, Jona became a part-time lecturer because he hopes to inspire students to turn their own ideas into startups.
Jona graduated cum laude at the HU in International Communication and Media (old version of Creative Business). While he followed this up with a fast track of Communication Science at the UvA, he received his first startup investment for his mobile app company AppAgents. This company created iPad app platforms for clients like Sanofi and Sony Music.
During his master’s degree in information Sciences, Jona became interested in bitcoin and blockchain in general. For his thesis, he researched the actors in the value creation of bitcoin mining and who ends up profiting from mining it. Jona was able to continue to work on this graduation thesis and managed to get it published in a peer-reviewed journal.
In 2018, after partaking in several blockchain projects, he co-founded a blockchain company in Aveiro, Portugal together with a Portuguese business partner. This company built the gaming platform QUDO that received several large European Union innovation grants and over half a million euros in investment from venture partners. The company currently employs around ten people. Jona is mostly involved with the strategic side of the business.
Fields of expertise
- Entrepreneurship
- Business models
- Blockchain
- Climate Adaptation
- Research
Research themes
| Project title | From chaining blocks to breaking even: A study on the profitability of bitcoin mining from 2012 to 2016 |
| Keywords | Bitcoin, business model, financial sustainability, mining, POW |
| Years of completion | 2013-2018 |
| General project description | Bitcoin is a widely-spread payment instrument, but it is doubtful whether the proof-of-work (PoW) nature of the system is financially sustainable on the long term. To assess sustainability, we focus on the bitcoin miners as they play an important role in the proof-of-work consensus mechanism of bitcoin to create trust in the currency. Miners offer their services against a reward while recurring expenses. Our results show that bitcoin mining has become less profitable over time to the extent that profits seem to converge to zero. This is what economic theory predicts for a competitive market that has a single homogenous good. We analyze the actors involved in the bitcoin system as well as the value flows between these actors using the e3value methodology. The value flows are quantified using publicly available data about the bitcoin network. A sustainable crypto currency needs higher payments for miners or more energy efficient algorithms to achieve consensus in a network about the truth of the distributed ledger. |
| Role in project | Lead researcher |
| More information | Read article on springer.com |
Other recent projects
- 50 ways to Fight Bias (a workshop to promote gender equality in the workplace) - 2021/2022 - Amsterdam, Netherlands – Workshop facilitator - Read the article
- Follow-This - Valero Energy Corp. (Biofuels Strategy Outlook) – 2021 - Amsterdam, Netherlands – Consultant – Visit follow-this.org
Key publications
Scholarly publications
- Derks, J., Gordijn, J., & Siegmann, A. (2018) - From chaining blocks to breaking even: A study on the profitability of bitcoin mining from 2012 to 2016 - Electronic Markets, 28(3), 321–338 - Read the paper
Qualifications
- 2013 - 2015: Master of Science, Information Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
- 2009 - 2011: Bachelor of Science, Communication Science, Universiteit van Amsterdam
- 2006 - 2010: Bachelor International Communication and Media, Hogeschool Utrecht