Bitcoin and Beyond: Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and Global Governance

ISBN-13: 9780415792141 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 222 str.

Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn

Opis

Since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009 several hundred different 'Cryptocurrencies' have been developed and are now accepted by eBay, AirBnB, Uber, and even for political donations. Yet Bitcoin has also garnered unwanted attention as its dollar value fluctuates wildly and it is implicated in money laundering, Ponzi schemes and trade in illicit goods and services. Central banks, finance ministries, and market regulators have outlined new legislation and started to implement various formal governance initiatives to address the challenges that Blockchain technologies pose. Critics have countered that digital cryptography and the decentralised nature of a distributed, peer-to-peer technology render 'Cryptocurrencies' resistant to centralised exercises of public authority. What opportunities and challenges do Blockchain technologies pose for global governance? Who are empowered and disempowered by these technologies? This volume addresses these questions by integrating critical and constructivist perspectives with approaches from a range of disciplines. It enhances interdisciplinary conversations and mutual learning and provides academics, policymakers, the the general public with a critically informed understanding of the implications that Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, and Blockchain technologies pose for the governance of a rapidly changing global political economy.

O autorze

Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. His research combines a general focus on language and ideas in the global political economy with a specific interest in the roles of private actors, technologies and technical artefacts in contemporary global governance. His research has appeared in the journals Business and Politics, Competition and Change, Global Society, Journal of European Public Policy, New Political Economy, and New Political Science. He is the author of Professional Authority After the Global Financial Crisis, published in 2017 by Palgrave MacMillan.