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Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Opportunities and Limits of a New Monetary Regime

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  • Léo Malherbe
  • Matthieu Montalban
  • Nicolas Bédu
  • Caroline Granier

Abstract

Cryptocurrency innovations such as Bitcoin raise the question of the possible transformation of the monetary regime and how it would operate. The blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin is said to be “trustless” because it has been designed to avoid a “trusted third party.” Drawing on the institutionalist approach of Aglietta and Orléan emphasizing the importance of trust in money and the monetary system, we show that Bitcoin is characterized by: (1) methodical trust through the existence of an objective proof of payment; (2) hierarchical trust due to the concentration in the mining process; and (3) ethical trust organized around the rejection of banks and the state, although the early ethical commitment is unstable. In other words, trust is now materialized in a form of technical institution, the blockchain. However, Bitcoin cannot be used as everyday money as it would bring about a deflationist and dysfunctional monetary regime, as well as high transaction costs. Some other cryptocurrencies could lead to interesting transformations of the monetary regime if they were to provide new forms of sovereignty, avoid a design based on a fixed monetary supply, or if central banks decided to back them.

Suggested Citation

  • Léo Malherbe & Matthieu Montalban & Nicolas Bédu & Caroline Granier, 2019. "Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain: Opportunities and Limits of a New Monetary Regime," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(2), pages 127-152, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:ijpoec:v:48:y:2019:i:2:p:127-152
    DOI: 10.1080/08911916.2019.1624320
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    Cited by:

    1. Ana Cristina O. Siqueira & Benson Honig & Sandra Mariano & Joysi Moraes, 2020. "A Commons Strategy for Promoting Entrepreneurship and Social Capital: Implications for Community Currencies, Cryptocurrencies, and Value Exchange," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(4), pages 711-726, November.
    2. Teck Ming Tan & Jari Salo, 2023. "Ethical Marketing in the Blockchain-Based Sharing Economy: Theoretical Integration and Guiding Insights," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(4), pages 1113-1140, April.
    3. Patel, Ritesh & Migliavacca, Milena & Oriani, Marco E., 2022. "Blockchain in banking and finance: A bibliometric review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Aniruddha Dutta & Saket Kumar & Meheli Basu, 2020. "A Gated Recurrent Unit Approach to Bitcoin Price Prediction," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Tyc Aneta & Siuciński Robert, 2020. "Cryptocurrencies: Some Remarks from the Perspective of Polish Employment and Tax Law," TalTech Journal of European Studies, Sciendo, vol. 10(1), pages 22-39, June.
    6. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Muck, Franziska & Scheckenbach, Isabel, 2021. "Blockchain applications for climate protection: A global empirical investigation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).

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