My perspective on the Bitcoin Project (collected works)

It's true, I really did say that.

It's Christmas time and I'm in a giving mood. So I thought I'd collect all my writings and talks related to Bitcoin and blockchain in one easy-to-access spot.


Like many people, I first took notice of Bitcoin in 2013, after its price soared to over $1000, before plummeting significantly. Many economists dismissed the phenomenon as just another bubble/scam. This was my initial instinct as well, but after checking under the hood, I discovered something intriguing and worth learning more about.

Bitcoin/blockchain is generally much better understood today than it was back then, although an air of mystery persists. But the concept is not very complicated at all, even if the underlying mechanics are. I liken this situation to how we understand machines. For example, most of us roughly understand how an internal combustion engine works, even if we don't know enough to build or repair one ourselves. Hopefully, you'll find some similar level intuition in my writings on the subject below.  You may also find my posts and presentations of interest because I approach the subject from the perspective of an academic / central banker.

I list my blog posts and talks on the subject below in chronological order (to monitor how my thinking evolves on the subject).

[1] Why Gold and Bitcoin Make Lousy Money. April 23, 2013. Link to blog post.

[2] Bitcoin and Beyond: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Virtual Currencies. Dialogue with the Fed (a public lecture hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), March 31, 2014. Slide deck. Link to presentation.

[3] The Virtual Currency Revolution. Opening address at the DATA annual meeting, April 10, 2014. Link to presentation.

[4] Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Beyond. SFU Vancouver Speakers Series, July 7, 2014. Link to presentation.

[5] Bitcoin and Beyond: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Virtual Currency. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Jacksonville Branch, November 16, 2014. Updated slide deck.

[6] Bitcoiners: Surely We Can Do Buiter Than This? November 27, 2014. Link to blog post.

[7] Money and Payments, or How We Move Marbles. February 1, 2015. Link to blog post.

[8] Fedcoin: On the Desirability of a Government Cryptocurrency. International Workshop on P2P Financial Systems, Frankfurt, February, 2015. Link to presentation. Link to related blog post.

[9] Bitcoin: A Decentralized Public-Legder Digital-Asset-Transfer Mechanism. Bendheim Lecture, Princeton University, May 1, 2015. Link to presentation.

[10] Fedcoin and the Implications of Cryptocurrencies Issued by Central Banks. June 15, 2015. Link to podcast.

[11] Bitcoin and Central Banking. November 12, 2015. Link to blog post.

[12] Is Bitcoin a Safe Asset? March 27, 2016. Link to blog post.

[13] Monetary Policy Implications of Blockchain Technology. May 1, 2016. Link to blog post.

[14] Why the Blockchain Should Be Familiar to You, May 5, 2016. Link to blog post.

[15] Can the Blockchain Kill Fake News? December 30, 2016. Link to blog post.

[16] Tyler Cowen on Central Bank Cryptocurrencies. November 27, 2017. Link to blog post. 

[17] Fedcoin and Blockchain. December 27, 2017. Link to blog post. 

[18] Blockchain: What it is, what it does, and why you probably don't need one. January 21, 2018. Link to blog post. Link to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review article.

[19] Bitcoin: Beyond the Basics. Timely Topics, St. Louis Fed. Link to podcast (16 minutes).

[20] Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Central Banks, Dialogue with the Fed, August 29, 2018. Link to presentation. 

[21] Smart Contracts and Asset Tokenization. November 8, 2018. Link to blog post. 

[22] Whither the Price of Bitcoin (with Andrew Spewak). January 11, 2019. Link to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Synopses. 

[23] Central Bank Digital Currencies. Interview with Paul Buitink, November 21, 2020.

 

[24] On the Role and Future of Cryptocurrencies. April 23, 2021.

[25] The Blockchain Revolution: Decoding Digital Currencies (with Fernando Martin). Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Annual Report, April 2022.


PODCASTS

Fedcoin: The Implications of Cryptocurrencies Issued by Central Banks. Epicenter, June 15, 2015.
Central Banker Decrypts. A Bit Cryptic, October 31, 2018. 
The Impact of Central Bank Digital Currencies on Private Banks. Epicenter, December 18, 2018.
Cryptocurrencies. Equilibrium, SFU Economics, January3, 2019.