Blockchains and distributed ledgers in retrospective and perspective. Issue 1 (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lipton, Alexander
• Is Part Of: Journal of risk finance. Volume 19:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 4
• Page End: 25
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: Blockchains; Risk management -- Periodicals; Risk (Insurance) -- Periodicals; Risk assessment -- Periodicals; 658.155
• DOI: 10.1108/JRF-02-2017-0035
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1526-5943

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce blockchains and distributed ledgers and describe their potential applications to money and banking. Design/Methodology/Approach: The analysis compares public and private ledgers and outlines the suitability of various types of ledgers for different purposes. Furthermore, a few historical prototypes of blockchains and distributed ledgers are presented, and results of their hard forking are illustrated. Next, some potential applications of distributed ledgers to trading, clearing and settlement, payments, trade finance, etc. are outlined. Findings: Monetary circuits are argued to be natural applications for blockchains. Finally, the role of digital currencies in modern society is articulated and various forms of digital cash, such as central bank issued electronic cash, bank money, Bitcoin and P2P money, are compared and contrasted.