Mining Bitcoin Is Big Business - The Economist
The prestigious magazine The Economist has an article titled "The magic of mining." Mining Bitcoin has become a big, ruthlessly competitive business. Bitcoins, The Economist says, have three useful qualities in a currency: they are hard to earn, limited in supply and easy to verify. But stability is important too: just over a year ago a bitcoin was worth four times as many dollars as now. The Mt. Gox affair and the recent problems at Bitstamp show that the Bitcoin economy still has many threats to face. The media tend to report only the huge swings of Bitcoin price (and, recently, the fact....
Related News
For many, the level of centralization found in the Bitcoin mining ecosystem is the biggest issue for the peer-to-peer digital cash system today. As a technology that relies on decentralization in order to provide a censorship-resistant bearer ecash, any trend towards centralization should be viewed as problematic. In 2014, economist Kevin Dowd claimed the incentives of pooled mining are “totally destructive of the Bitcoin system.” The amount of mining that takes place in China led former Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn to state, “Bitcoin is controlled by the Chinese Government.” Those who....
An economist with the Bank of International Settlements has found that cryptocurrencies are not sought as an alternative to fiat currencies or regulated finance, therefore a “technology-neutral regulation to this asset class” is recommended. The economist discussed “embedded supervision,” adding that “The main aim is low-cost supervision of decentralized markets.” BIS Economist Suggests Regulatory Approach for Cryptocurrencies The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) published a working paper Thursday on “The socioeconomic drivers of US....
A Bank of America economist, Tatonga Rusike, has said the Nigerian currency is overvalued by as much as 20% and will likely be devalued in 2030. The remarks by the economist came just days after the currency’s exchange rate reportedly touched a new low of just under 750 naira for every U.S. dollar on the parallel market. Currency Fair Value Analysis According to a Bank of America economist, Tatonga Rusike, the Nigerian currency, which has officially stayed below the 450:1 mark since May 2021, is overvalued by 20% and he expects it to be devalued by as much in 2023. In his October 18....
The chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that regulation is “absolutely important” for the crypto sector. She added that banning cryptocurrencies, like what India could be considering doing, would pose practical challenges given their decentralized nature. IMF’s Chief Economist on Cryptocurrency and Its Regulation International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath reportedly discussed cryptocurrency Wednesday at an event organized by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Gopinath is also the IMF’s....
University business school teams competing in the Kraken Case Study competition predicted two to one that a bitcoin-weighted portfolio will outperform one that is Ethereum-weighted, according to The Economist. The competition invited students to choose which blockchain technology is the better long-term buy. The students were asked if they have a million dollars to invest in the two blockchain technologies and they cannot touch their investment for the next five years, how much of that sum do they invest in each, and why? Economist Serves MBA Education. The students’ submissions are hosted....