Some simple bitcoin economics

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Schilling, Linda; Uhlig, Harald
• 署名单位: Institut Polytechnique de Paris; Ecole Polytechnique; ENSAE Paris; University of Chicago
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MONETARY ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3932
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2019.07.002
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 16-26
• 关键词: Cryptocurrency; Bitcoin; Exchange rates; Currency competition

摘要

We provide a model of an endowment economy with two competing, but intrinsically worthless currencies (Dollar, Bitcoin). Dollars are supplied by a central bank to achieve its inflation target, while the Bitcoin supply grows deterministically. Our fundamental pricing equation implies in its simplest form that Bitcoin prices form a martingale. Mutual impatience implies absence of speculation. Price volatility therefore does not invalidate the medium-of-exchange function. Bitcoin block rewards are not a tax on Bitcoin holders: they are financed with a Dollar tax. We discuss monetary policy implications, Bitcoin production, taxation, welfare and entry, and characterize the range of equilibria. (C) 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.