Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-3-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Josh Hendrickson
Second Advisor
Jon Moen
Third Advisor
Ken Cyree
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
As cryptocurrencies have begun to proliferate through the economy policymakers are asking questions of where they came from, how do they work, what they are used for and how should we regulate the market. Through a historical analysis, it can be seen that Bitcoin represented a legitimate innovation in money and provided significant improvements to earlier attempts at private commodity currency. Additionally, many of the criticisms lobbied against Bitcoin appear to be overstated, most notably the claim that it is a good tool for criminals. However, there has been a notable split in the market. The emerging crypto industry bears little resemblance to the promise of the Cypherpunks. The crypto industry has become rot with fraud and has shifted from activists attempting to build a better financial system, to something adjacent to Silicon Valley. The current approach by federal regulators to regulate the crypto market has been wholly inadequate and Congress must act to create a federal regulatory framework surrounding digital assets.
Recommended Citation
Moore, Andrew, "From Cypherpunks to Congress: A Historical Analysis of the Development, Uses, and Regulatory Landscape of Cryptocurrencies" (2024). Honors Theses. 3077.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3077