This paper provides an empirical overview of the largely unexplored public blockchain ecosystem. Our overview highlights that only a few blockchains dominate the ecosystem although no single blockchain, not even Bitcoin, dominates uniformly. We explain our empirical findings with a simple...

This paper examines the economic implications of scaling blockchains under two different consensus protocols: Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS). We study an economic model whereby agents can store wealth through the blockchain's cryptocurrency but may face a costly delay when...

We study the equilibrium level of staking in a Proof-of-Stake blockchain when investors have different trading horizons. We find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, staking levels do not always increase in block rewards. Rather, block rewards serve as an inflationary transfer from...

We survey extant literature on the economics of blockchain fundamentals with particular focus on Bitcoin, Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake. We formally clarify Bitcoin’s economic significance in solving the double-spending problem without a centralized entity. We then transition to the...

We explain the mechanics of smart contracts. We then highlight benefits of smart contracts such as overcoming commitment problems. We also discuss limitations such as the difficulty for smart contracts to access information external to the blockchain and the difficulty of integrating smart...

We survey extant literature on the economics of blockchain fundamentals, with particular focus on Bitcoin, proof-of-work, and proof-of-stake. We formally clarify Bitcoin's economic significance in solving the double-spending problem without a centralized entity. We then transition to the...