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2018 | Buch

Crypto Uncovered

The Evolution of Bitcoin and the Crypto Currency Marketplace

verfasst von: Dr. Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Über dieses Buch

Crypto currency integrated BlockChain under Virtual Scalable Enterprises is a widely debated and earnestly discussed topic in the technology arena. Executives at the largest institutions are calling crypto currency fraudulent while high-level institutional banking professionals are leaving their positions to jump into crypto technology, regulation and investment opportunities as industries advance towards adoption. The narratives on these topics are diametrically opposite and polarizing on both side of the debate. While this debate has many layers from a government regulatory side to social impact to the practicality of everyday use of crypto currencies in developing markets, it is safe to assume that crypto currencies or utility tokens are more than a global phenomenon and are now becoming a working framework for optional modes of business.

This book demystifies what crypto currency is, how it is used, and what it means to the consumer, investor, and the future of our global currency marketplace. By providing the historical backdrop to the market, authors Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, and Marvin Loh provide a clear definition of what crypto-currencies actually are, how they are being used and by whom, and the unique reasons why they have gone from back street to Main Street almost overnight. The book will also delve into the government’s role in regulating this commerce medium. Lastly, the authors will look at the current global monetary policy and discuss if this type of currency phenomena was a direct result while also examining the potential risk and rewards for investors and the economy.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. History of Money
Abstract
Money has been around for a long time, and some would argue since the beginning of time. Money is so common that everyone has experience with it and likely interacts with it on a daily basis. This familiarity does not, however, mean that money is universally understood. The International Monetary Fund describes money as anything that serves as a
(1)
Store of Value, which means people can save it and use it later
 
(2)
Unit of Account, that is, it provides a common base for prices
 
(3)
Medium of Exchange, something that enables people to buy and sell from one another
 
While crypto currencies do not necessarily meet all of the definitional requirements at the moment, they do represent a natural evolution of money. Additionally, many of the most appealing aspects of crypto currencies attempt to address many of the issues that have plagued money throughout history.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
2. Tales from the Crypt: The Dawn of Crypto Currency
Abstract
The price of bitcoin hit an all-time high of $19,000.00 on December 17, 2017, sending the world into a frenzy about bitcoin and crypto currency in general. Interest groups, media circles, and populations of people that appeared so far away from the discussion were now participating, driving the world into a state of frenzy concerning the crypto currency phenomenon. As many will discover, crypto currency is beyond a phenomenon. It is an innovative mode of conducting business that is here to stay. This staying power will be driven by reputable sovereign states, such as Bermuda, developing the legal framework for a working model to domicile initial coin offerings (ICOs) and by the prospect of the approximately 2 billion adults without traditional bank accounts discovering the virtues of crypto currency to perform everyday transactions through their mobile phone.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
3. Silk Road to Wall Street: Accepting Crypto Currency as a Tradable Asset
Abstract
Trading in crypto currencies firmly entered the mainstream posting some of the most staggering returns ever seen in the financial markets over the past year. By all accounts, the 1300% return for bitcoin in 2017 would put it within the annals of one of the best returning asset classes ever, were it not for the much larger gains posted by smaller and newer virtual currencies.
 As the value of crypto currencies has ballooned, so has interest in them. Google searches for the term “bitcoin” have followed as meteoric a rise in interest as the value of the currency itself. It is therefore no surprise that the number of blockchain wallets doubled in 2017, exceeding 20 million by the end of the year.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
4. Crypto Currency: What Do We Know About Investment Performance and Risk?
Abstract
Crypto currency originated in Nakamoto (Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. https://​bitcoin.​org/​bitcoin.​pdf), which described a digital payment system that did not require a third party, but instead a network of participants. The underlying technology, known as blockchain, has allowed for the growth of crypto currency. Bitcoin and more recently other crypto currencies serve as tokens used in blockchain systems.
Although bitcoin has been traded 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, since 2010, rival crypto currencies started to appear in 2014. Since 2015, there have been competing coins, including ethereum, which operates on the ethereum network. Ethereum has a current market capitalization of $47.8 billion as of July 24, 2018, which is exceeded only by bitcoin’s $140.1 billion market capitalization on July 24, 2018 (These statistics were obtained from https://​www.​cryptocompare.​com on July 24, 2018, at 10:59 AM EDT).
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
5. Managing the Crypto Marketplace
Abstract
Entrepreneurs entering the crypto currency world will do so via an initial coin offering (ICO). ICOs in general have a community of users that participate in building a perceived value of the token or coin by using it as a medium of exchange for a given marketplace of goods or services provided by the ICO network—or trading the token or coin on a crypto currency exchange. Designing a system of governance for the community is the burden of entrepreneurs who dare to take on such an endeavor to ensure their fate is not the same as that of Ross Ulbricht. Participant management was not a topic of high interest for the original designers of digital currencies or bitcoin. The works of the cypherpunks, the group associated with creating a body of works that became the foundation and inspiration for bitcoin, do little to address the issue of participant management.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
6. Crypto Currency: The Birth of an ICO
Abstract
By continuing the journey through defining, launching, and bringing a crypto currency to a level of critical mass, a symbiotic relationship between the currency and the marketplace is naturally developed. Crypto currencies exist only within the networks that they are conceived in. Those networks which give life to a particular currency will survive or have viability relative to the utility value of the marketplace. At least this will be apparent initially. Confusing the entire relationship as crypto currency is easy. However, deconstructing all the components is vital to bring clarity as an initial coin offering (ICO) is launched, and the number of crypto currencies increases in number. Since ICO is the preferred choice to bring a crypto currency online, this chapter goes through the details of launching an ICO using the working model of LUCKY DOG coin for reference.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
7. Creation of a Distributed Ledger
Abstract
Over the last few years the words blockchain, bitcoin, and mining have been buzzing around all over the internet. Before we jump right into the details of crypto currency, I want to explain these buzzwords which will help us absorb the later sections with much more clarity. Blockchain is a continuously growing list of records called blocks. Every block in the blockchain typically contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data. Blockchain was designed so that the transactions are immutable, meddle-proof, and distributed.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
8. ICO Regulatory and Reporting Framework
Abstract
There are great predictions on the potential of blockchain-based solutions to “revolutionize” everything from financial markets to the very way that we outright recognize human identity for billions of people around the globe. Initial solutions on blockchain were more centered around the financial industry, but the trend has shifted now to address a wide array of sectors, and the majority of them have a social impact. In the current world, technology is empowering society to research with new solutions and business models. Blockchain is a kind of technology that has the power to deal with significant inefficiencies and transform operations in the social sector and to improve our lifestyle. Blockchain’s inherent characteristics of immutability, decentralization, and transparency help build trust across multiple systems.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
9. Crypto Currency: Another Block in the Continuum of Value Exchange
Abstract
This short chapter simply takes a look at the opportunity and the risk inherent in adopting a new way of exchanging value or transacting trade. This chapter is also going to dispense with the hyperbole surrounding crypto currency—there will be no discussion of revolutionary technology, new economic paradigms, or disrupting history; rather, this chapter simply wants to look at this new medium of exchange and how it may or may not do anything more than provide another alternative to people for the buying and selling of goods and services.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
10. A Vision for the Future: The Bermuda FinTech Story
Abstract
In order to advance the types of innovations we have discussed throughout the book, it will require the commitment and collaboration of governments, technology firms, and academic institutions. This collaboration could lead to sustainable economic growth and the betterment of our overall society.
We are at a pivotal point in our history where through advances in technology we have been given both the gift and the responsibility of massive amounts of data and the tools to interpret and create new frontiers in many fields. Crypto currency is one of the most talked about advances. Technology has enabled access to create and trade digital currency and put the opportunity to participate into the hands of the public in a decentralized and not fully regulated manner.
Sarah Swammy, Richard Thompson, Marvin Loh
Metadaten
Titel
Crypto Uncovered
verfasst von
Dr. Sarah Swammy
Richard Thompson
Marvin Loh
Copyright-Jahr
2018
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-00135-3
Print ISBN
978-3-030-00134-6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00135-3