The design of Bitcoin is closely related to gold which has led to the idea that Bitcoin has gold-like features such as being a store of value and a safe haven. However, given Bitcoin's extreme volatility investors may rather need a safe haven against Bitcoin. We hypothesize that stablecoins...

Concluding thoughts and outlook for the future of the technology. For Chapter 1 (Introduction), see "https://ssrn.com/abstract=3135021" https://ssrn.com/abstract=3135021. For Chapter 2 (Means of Exchange: Ever-present Competition), "https://ssrn.com/abstract=3135028"...

In this chapter, we discuss economic aspects of cryptocurrencies. 4.1. The double spending problem 4.2. How does Bitcoin work? Brief overview 4.3. Not the first one – predecessors of Bitcoin 4.4. Problems with Bitcoin (new challenges) 4.5. Competition against other crypto-currencies 4.6....

In this chapter, we analyze digital currencies issued by Internet platforms. We use examples of Facebook Credits, Amazon Coins, World of Warcraft gold and Linden dollars to illustrate how designing the features of digital currencies allows the platforms to enhance their business model. 3.1....

Introductory thoughts, and preview of topics discussed in later chapters. For Chapter 2 (Means of Exchange: Ever-present Competition), see https://ssrn.com/abstract=3135028. For Chapter 3 (Platform-based Currencies), see https://ssrn.com/abstract=3135030. For Chapter 4 (Cryptocurrencies), see...

The standard economic approach to considering the effects of a policy tends to neglect the prospect of regulatory ambiguity. I describe four sources of regulatory ambiguity and survey the literature considering the effects of ambiguity on entrepreneurial activity. I also explain how...

Can Bitcoin remain tamper proof in the long run? We use block-level data from the Bitcoin blockchain to estimate the impact of congestion and the USD price on fee rates. The introduction and adoption of the Segwit protocol allows us to identify an aggregate demand curve for bitcoin transactions....

The success of alternative payment systems has led to discussion of various proposals to replace money with a new technology-based system, though many lack a clear idea of what exactly is the "money" they seek to replace. We begin by presenting the explanation of money's role in the economy...

Blockchain technology breathes new life into the classical analysis of money as a substitute for a ledger of all past transactions. While it involves updating the ledger through a decentralized consensus on the unique truth, the robustness of the equilibrium that supports this consensus depends...

We analyse minute-level multi-dimensional information flows within and between bitcoin spot and derivatives. We show that perpetual swaps and futures traded on the unregulated exchanges Huobi, OKEx and BitMEX are much the strongest instruments for bitcoin price discovery and we examine potential...