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Publications
  • Spring 2015
  • Article
  • Journal of Economic Perspectives

Bitcoin: Economics, Technology, and Governance

By: Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman and Tyler Moore
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

Bitcoin is an online communication protocol that facilitates virtual currency including electronic payments. Since its inception in 2009 by an anonymous group of developers, Bitcoin has served tens of millions of transactions with total dollar value in the billions. Users have been drawn to Bitcoin for its decentralization, intentionally relying on no single server or set of servers to store transactions and also avoiding any single party that can ban certain participants or certain types of transactions. Bitcoin is of interest to economists in part for its potential to disrupt existing payment systems and perhaps monetary systems as well as for the wealth of data it provides about agents' behavior and about the Bitcoin system itself. This article presents the platform's design principles and properties for a non-technical audience; reviews its past, present, and future uses; and points out risks and regulatory issues as Bitcoin interacts with the conventional financial system and the real economy.

Keywords

Market Platforms; Online Technology; Currency

Citation

Böhme, Rainer, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman, and Tyler Moore. "Bitcoin: Economics, Technology, and Governance." Journal of Economic Perspectives 29, no. 2 (Spring 2015): 213–238.
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    An Introduction to the Competition Law and Economics of 'Free'

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    • Oxford Review of Economic Policy

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More from the Authors
  • From the Digital to the Physical: Federal Limitations on Regulating Online Marketplaces By: Benjamin Edelman and Abbey Stemler
  • An Introduction to the Competition Law and Economics of 'Free' By: Benjamin Edelman and Damien Geradin
  • The Market Design and Policy of Online Review Platforms By: Benjamin Edelman
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