This paper is the first to rigorously test commonly cited simplistic theories of cryptocurrency pricing, namely, cost-based model and Metcalfe's law, using causal inferences from the instrumental variables approach on block-level data for six proof-of-work coins. Positive effects of hashrate and...

In this study, a mathematical model of proof-of-work cryptocurrency valuation is developed based on the concepts of simultaneous equilibria in two mining games, the purchasing power parity in the system of equations of exchange and the network effects of transaction cost optimisation in the...