Is Bitcoin a Waste of Resources?
Abstract
Do Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies play a useful social role, or do they represent a social waste? Bitcoin is a decentralized recordkeeping system, with updating of the record of transactions in the blockchain. Potentially, Bitcoin could be useful if it is widely used as a means of payment or as a safe-haven asset. But, given its properties, it is an inefficient and poorly designed means of payment and probably cannot survive as a safe haven asset. Bitcoin could encourage crime, which is a further social cost, but fortunately it may not serve criminals well either.
Citation
Stephen Williamson, "Is Bitcoin a Waste of Resources?," Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, Second Quarter 2018, pp. 107-15.
https://doi.org/10.20955/r.2018.107-15
Editors in Chief
Michael Owyang and Juan Sanchez
This journal of scholarly research delves into monetary policy, macroeconomics, and more. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the St. Louis Fed or Federal Reserve System. View the full archive (pre-2018).
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