The Cryptocurrency Revolution

Finance in the Age of Bitcoin, Blockchains and Tokens

Rhian Lewis

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781789665680
• eBook ISBN: 9781789665697
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Corporate Finance
• Index: Business

The world of cryptocurrencies and blockchains was initially viewed as a niche space of little interest to mainstream business and finance sectors. With major banks now licensed to provide cryptocurrency custody solutions, and everyone from Facebook to governments using the underlying technology to create their own digital currencies, this has undoubtedly changed. The Cryptocurrency Revolution explains the most important takeaways from the continued growth of digital currencies and blockchain technology and explores the transformative possibilities of borderless payments, decentralized finance ('DeFi') and machine-to-machine transactions.Written in jargon-free and accessible language, this book examines the key value proposition of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and how decentralized technologies could enable banks and financial institutions to become more efficient. It looks at the potential impact of company-backed virtual currencies (such as Facebook's Libra) and how governments and regulators around the world are reacting to these innovations. With discussion of the principles of tokenomics and the difference between public and private blockchains, The Cryptocurrency Revolution is the essential guide for those wishing to understand the threats and opportunities of the changing world of payments and finance.

Index

4Chan messaging board 68

ABI Lab 176

Air Miles 23, 24

Alibaba 168

Alipay 25, 238

Allen, Lily 47

altcoins (alternative cryptocurrencies) 56–73

Counterparty 62–63

Dogecoin 58–60

exchanges and trading tools in the early days 60–62

Litecoin 56–58

marketing strategies 57–58

Mastercoin 63

pump and dump schemes 61–62

Alternative Cryptocurrencies board 57

alternative currencies 23–24

Ancient Greece, issuing of coinage by city states 8

API (application programming interface) 143

art, token economies case studies 129–30

Atlas Card 172

Attanasio, Silvia 176

Au, Sean 98

Augur 200

Auroracoin 109–10

automotive sector, token economies case studies 118–22

Axoni 180

BaFin licences 216, 222

Bahamas, Sand Dollar project 235

Baker-Taylor, Teana 209–10, 222–23, 226–27, 229

Bakkt 194

Bancor 162

bank cryptocurrencies 138–41

bank ledger, security of 17–18

Bank of England Working Paper 605 235–37

banking and financial services

audit trails and blockchains 183

collaborations and consortiums 179–81

credit checks 181–82

cross-border payments 177–79

data aggregation 182

digital transformation 173–74

fractional reserve banking 16

future of DLT 186–188

implementation of blockchain technology 171–88

independence of Bitcoin 40–43

know your customer (KYC) rules 181–82

money-laundering regulations 181–82

Open Banking 145–46

origins of the modern banking system 16–20

trade finance

letters of credit 184–85

open accounts 185–86

banknotes, government-issued 10

banks

creation of financial instruments 15

deregulation in the UK (1980s) 15

Northern Rock crisis 15–16, 19–20

regulatory framework 17–18

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Table of contents

• Praise for The Cryptocurrency Revolution
• The Cryptocurrency Revolution
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• NT Introduction
• 01 What is money?
• 02 The first 10 years of Bitcoin
• 03 Litecoin, Ethereum and a tidal wave of altcoins
• 04 Libra: how Big Tech moved in on digital currencies
• 05 Tokenomics and governance
• 06 Driving change with token economies: case studies
• 07 Public blockchains versus permissioned blockchains
• 08 ICO mania
• 09 Banking and financial services
• 10 A revolution in financial products
• 11 Regulation
• 12 State-issued digital currencies
• 13 Future digital currency trends
• DX Index
• Copyright Page