Reports
5 September 2017

Riding the Cryptocoaster

Is Bitcoin real money? Will it reach FX stability? As investors are scratching their heads, we show why trust is ultimately the key component for its development.

Executive summary

  • The Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) will transform the way we pay, clear and settle transactions.
  • Digital Currencies (DC) may become real money in the future, but there are still some missing elements.
  • Bid-ask spreads on Bitcoin (BTC) exchanges are still quite high, suggesting far-from-ideal liquidity conditions. 
  • The "trust problem" is still proving a bit of a headache for the Blockchain community, but we will likely see further developments on this front in the future.
  • But the big elephant in the room is the absence of a central bank. 

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