“I grew up on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, and before the age of seven, I worked in street markets to help my family with some extra income,” recalled Daniel Rabetti, an Assistant Professor in Accounting at the NUS Business School.

“My mom used to say when I was a kid that the only way out of poverty is through education,” Daniel added. He is also the S. Dhanabalan Chair in Quantitative Studies, an endowed professorship that funds research in numbers and statistics.

Daniel’s mother’s words motivated him to go all out for his studies. During high school, Daniel would wake up at 5:15 am and work from 7 am to noon, then go to a technical school to study mechanical engineering in the afternoon.

Thanks to savings and loans, Daniel made to Israel for his tertiary education, “Moving abroad for my bachelor’s degree exposed me to several challenges, from culture shock to language barriers and working several hours daily in a call centre to pay the bills,” recalled Daniel.

In Israel, Daniel studied business, specialising in finance, for his undergraduate degree and a Master’s in Financial Economics at Reichman University. He then went to the University of Tel Aviv for his PhD in Business Administration.

The intersection of finance and technology

Daniel’s father worked informal jobs, thus he lacked the necessary financial history to secure bank loans. Spurred by his father’s experience, Daniel wanted to pursue solutions that allow the financially disadvantaged easy access to financial services. He then found his answer in blockchain technology and its best-known example, cryptocurrency.

The technology’s premise is that it is an inexpensive way to record transactions. Small finance and lending firms can use the technology to offer services to regions with scarce banking services, while individuals can easily access these services via smartphones and the Internet.

Daniel’s interest would later become his research speciality. He recently published International Business and Decentralized Finance, which explores the impact, benefits, and challenges of Dencentralised Finance (DeFi), an emerging technology that uses blockchain technology to manage financial transactions.

“Our study demonstrates that DeFi can foster international business by offering accessible financial services across borders, disrupting traditional intermediaries, and promoting financial inclusion. However, it also discusses challenges, including regulatory uncertainties and scalability, adoption, and stability concerns,” said Daniel. The paper came out only in the first quarter of 2024, but Daniel hopes to present his findings to international regulatory bodies soon.

However, Daniel pointed out that new technologies come with challenges. “I have devoted significant efforts to understanding financial misconduct, scams, and using cryptocurrencies for illicit activities, particularly in evaluating market solutions and generating insights for policymakers,” he said. And for Daniel, exploring these illicit activities has opened a new research area.

For instance, in his paper Blockchain Forensics and Crypto-Related Cybercrimes, Daniel and his co-authors gave an overview of criminal activities related to cryptocurrencies, including investment scams and money laundering. The authors have presented their papers to regulatory bodies like the US Department of Treasury and the Bank of Italy.

Scaling new research in blockchain

“Singapore’s regulatory environment supports new technologies like blockchain. NUS, at the heart of Singapore’s vibrant tech ecosystem, presents opportunities for collaboration in blockchain research,” said Daniel.

For instance, Daniel and one of his students recently submitted a paper that analyses traders’ practice of avoiding taxes by pledging their assets as collateral on DeFi platforms. The paper will be presented at an upcoming research conference.

Meanwhile, one of Daniel’s upcoming research is on the rise of smart contract auditors – specialists who perform coding verification to prevent security breaches in DeFi applications.

“This area aligns perfectly with my passion for researching the challenges of implementing emerging technologies, especially the role of market initiatives or regulatory intervention in allowing technology to bridge the financial inclusion gap.”

Daniel believes that his research will help illuminate the impact of technologies on society. “It is our responsibility to advance the discussion on the challenges presented by such technologies, especially in informing policy discussions,” he said.