Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and IT Governance: The basis for DeFi, CBDC and tokenized assets.

Blockchain is a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) which supports cryptocurrencies, Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a blockchain-based financial infrastructure, the term generally refers to an open, permissionless, and highly interoperable protocol stack built on public smart contract platforms, such as the Ethereum blockchain. DeFi does not rely on intermediaries and centralized institutions. Instead, it is based on open protocols and decentralized applications (Dapps). Considering that there are many digital coins, stablecoins and recently the advent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs by Central Banks) and tokenized assets it is important to observe that these protocols may interact among themselves. These IT protocols interactions may be complex and there should be effective IT governance frameworks to guide points like interoperability and interconvertibility of digital assets based on DLTs protocols. IT governance framework based on these technologies is still a challenge in the literature. Considering these points, this paper seeks to explore literature through a Systematic Literature Review methodology in order to find the state of the art about this theme. Results show that Literature explore DLT governance as a whole, including information technology (IT) aspects. However, there is a lack in the literature about IT governance for interoperability and interconvertibility among complex DLT protocols interactions. Discussions, future research, limiting factors and conclusions are fully stated. Keywords: Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), IT Governance, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), Tokenization, Decentralized Finance (DeFi).