John Lewis

Cryptoassets and the crypto ecosystem as a whole has to face many of the same challenges as conventional assets and the regular financial system do. The same classic problems which are staple of economics textbooks (and history books), such as maturity mismatch, liquidity shortages, credibility, and collateral feedback loops. But whereas the conventional system has learned from the past and evolved to deal with them, much of the crypto ecosystem seems to have overlooked them. In this post I draw out the parallels between previous issues in the traditional financial system and recent crypto turbulence. I argue that when crypto goes wrong, it often goes wrong in strikingly conventional, even old-fashioned ways.

Continue reading “Old problems with new assets: some of crypto’s challenges look strangely familiar” →