This paper provides a systematic evaluation of the different types of digital currencies. We express skepticism regarding centralized digital currencies and therefore focus our economic analysis on private digital currencies. Specifically, we highlight the potential for private digital...

This paper provides a systematic evaluation of the different types of digital currencies. We express skepticism regarding centralized digital currencies and therefore focus our economic analysis on private digital currencies. Specifically, we highlight the potential for private digital...

Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains possess at least two undesirable characteristics: exceptional price volatility and welfare impairment. Exceptional price volatility arises because PoW implements a passive monetary policy that fails to modulate cryptocurrency demand shocks. Welfare impairment...

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...

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...

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 provides a systematic evaluation of the different types of digital currencies. We express skepticism regarding centralized digital currencies and therefore focus our economic analysis on private digital currencies. Specifically, we highlight the potential for private digital...