Federal Reserve of Boston report drills down into economics of Bitcoin, says future uncertain

Coindesk has brought to light a 28-page policy brief published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston titled, "Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term as Money?"

The report takes a deep dive into the economics of Bitcoin. Implications for Altcoins Altcoins Altcoin is a term that describes any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin’s inception, countless cryptos have been launched. Many of these have met varying levels of success, though few have risen to rival Bitcoin itself.Ether, XRP, Stellar, Monero, Ada, and Dash are a few examples of the more popular altcoins. There are currently over 5,000 altcoins and this number seems to grow constantly. The leading altcoins as of May 2020 are Ethereum and Ripple.In terms of structure, altcoins c Altcoin is a term that describes any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin’s inception, countless cryptos have been launched. Many of these have met varying levels of success, though few have risen to rival Bitcoin itself.Ether, XRP, Stellar, Monero, Ada, and Dash are a few examples of the more popular altcoins. There are currently over 5,000 altcoins and this number seems to grow constantly. The leading altcoins as of May 2020 are Ethereum and Ripple.In terms of structure, altcoins c Read this Term, by extension, are drawn. While the future of Bitcoin is considered highly uncertain, it has paved the way for innovation in efficient payment systems more fitting for a technologically advanced world.

Other key points:

- Some of the features built into Bitcoin's design have hampered its ability to function as fiat money.

- Theories of financial intermediation can be used to explain how bitcoin processing has evolved and how it will evolve in the future.

- Mining operations can be considered highly inefficient and may one day prove unaffordable.

- Pooled mining is more efficient and operations naturally gravitate toward fewer "coalitions". This form of "centralization" may be problematic to the network's integrity down the road.

The paper does make the disclaimer that the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily concur with those of the Federal Reserve and related bodies.

In April, the St. Louis Fed also weighed in on Bitcoin, concluding that it and gold make lousy money.