Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
12
1.Cryptocurrenciesandtheireconomicessence
2.Whataretheirtechnologicalfoundations?
3.Whichofthemarethemostimportantininternationalfinance?
4.Howmaycryptocurrenciesperformthefunctionsofinternationalmoneyand
howdotheyfulfiltheminreality?
5.Whatarethebarrierstotheirdevelopment?
Themethodsusedtoanswerthesequestionsweretheanalysisofliteratureand
simpletechniquesofstatisticaldataexamination.
1.2.Thegenesisofcryptocurrenciesinbrief
Thesearchforsolutionsthatcouldreplacefinancialintermediariesinsettlements
actuallybeganalmosthalfacenturyago.Thedevelopedconceptswerebasedon
findingsinthefieldofcryptologyandinformationscience,andwereaimedprimarily
atcreatinganewformofmoneyinadigitalform.Suchmoneywasassumedto
beindependentofstateinstitutions,butatthesametimeappropriatelysecure(i.e.
counterfeit-proofandimpossibleformultiplespending)and-whichwasessential
atthattime-anonymous.
Fundamentalproblemstosolveinordertoimplementapaymentsystemwithout
atrustedintermediaryboileddowntoindicatingthewaysof:reachingconsensus
betweenvalidatorsinthenetwork,eliminatingthepossibilityofdoublespendingof
resourcesandencouragingaproperandreliableprocessoftransactionsvalidation
(Chiu&Koeppl,2017,p.5).Themostsignificantconceptsthatunderpinnedthe
cryptocurrencies’technologyinclude(Bala,Kopyściański,&Srokosz,2016,pp.54,
55;Piotrowska,2018,pp.29-34):
y
centralisedpaymentsystembyChaum(1982),commercialisedlaterasDigi-
Cash,whosegoalwastoincreasethelevelofsecurityandthescopeofusers’
privacy,
y
hashcashbyBack(1997),asolutionthataimedtolimitthepossibilityofsending
spam,basedontheso-calledproof-of-workalgorithm,laterwidelyusedincryp-
tocurrencies’systems,
y
projectsby“cypherpunk”movement,focusedonensuringprivacyoranonymity
oftheinternetusers,alsoemployingitfortransfersandpayments,
y
b-moneybyDai(1998),whichconstitutedabeachheadforutilisationoftheso-
-calleddistributedledgertorecordtransactions,
y
bitgoldbySzabo(1998),
y
reusableproofsofworkbyFinney(2004),whichwasamethodtoprotectaga-
instthethreatofhackers-intheformofdenial-of-serviceattacks,commonly
employedbythem.
Thefirstcryptocurrencywhichwasfullyfunctional,disseminatedontheInternet
andintheeconomy,widelyusedforpaymenttransactionsandnotlimitedonlyto