Blockchain and Digital Payments: An Institutionalist Analysis of Cryptocurrencies

Abstract The recent financial crisis has caused a confidence and legitimation deficit in the official monetary system, opening up the space for alternative systems of payment. Bitcoin is one of the most famous incumbents, both for its innovative technology and the opportunities for speculation that it allowed for to the early adopters. This chapter develops a framework for the evolutionary analysis of Bitcoin that combines the theory of money with original institutional economics and its account of institutional change, defined by the principle of ceremonial encapsulation.

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