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The Predecessors of Bitcoin and Their Implications for the Prospect of Virtual Currencies

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  • Thomas Kim

Abstract

To examine whether the recent price patterns and transaction costs of Bitcoin represent a general characteristic of decentralized virtual currencies, we analyze virtual currencies in online games that have been voluntarily managed by individuals since 1990s. We find that matured game currencies have price stability similar to that of small size equities or gold, and their transaction costs are sometimes lower than real currencies. Assuming that virtual currencies with a longer history can provide an estimate for Bitcoin’s prospects, we project that Bitcoin will be less influenced by speculative trades and become a low cost alternative to real currencies.

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  • Thomas Kim, 2015. "The Predecessors of Bitcoin and Their Implications for the Prospect of Virtual Currencies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0123071
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123071
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lesmond, David A & Ogden, Joseph P & Trzcinka, Charles A, 1999. "A New Estimate of Transaction Costs," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(5), pages 1113-1141.
    2. Ben R. Marshall & Nhut H. Nguyen & Nuttawat Visaltanachoti, 2012. "Commodity Liquidity Measurement and Transaction Costs," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(2), pages 599-638.
    3. Roll, Richard, 1984. "A Simple Implicit Measure of the Effective Bid-Ask Spread in an Efficient Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1127-1139, September.
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    5. Edward Castronova, 2008. "A Test of the Law of Demand in a Virtual World: Exploring the Petri Dish Approach to Social Science," CESifo Working Paper Series 2355, CESifo.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Max Raskin & David Yermack, 2016. "Digital Currencies, Decentralized Ledgers, and the Future of Central Banking," NBER Working Papers 22238, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Juneman Abraham & Dian Utami Sutiksno & Nuning Kurniasih & Ari Warokka, 2019. "Acceptance and Penetration of Bitcoin: The Role of Psychological Distance and National Culture," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, July.
    3. Zargar, Faisal Nazir & Kumar, Dilip, 2019. "Long range dependence in the Bitcoin market: A study based on high-frequency data," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 515(C), pages 625-640.
    4. Francisco Javier García-Corral & José Antonio Cordero-García & Jaime de Pablo-Valenciano & Juan Uribe-Toril, 2022. "A bibliometric review of cryptocurrencies: how have they grown?," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-31, December.
    5. Sha Wang & Jean-Philippe Vergne, 2017. "Buzz Factor or Innovation Potential: What Explains Cryptocurrencies’ Returns?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, January.
    6. Zargar, Faisal Nazir & Kumar, Dilip, 2019. "Informational inefficiency of Bitcoin: A study based on high-frequency data," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 344-353.
    7. Jan Lánský, 2016. "Analysis of Cryptocurrencies Price Development," Acta Informatica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(2), pages 118-137.
    8. Claus Dierksmeier & Peter Seele, 2018. "Cryptocurrencies and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 1-14, September.
    9. Garrison Hongyu Song, 2023. "Valuation of Cryptocurrency Without Intrinsic Value: A Promise of Future Payment System and Implications to De-dollarization," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 221-248, April.
    10. Kim, Thomas, 2017. "On the transaction cost of Bitcoin," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 300-305.
    11. Pawan Kumar Singh & Alok Kumar Pandey & S. C. Bose, 2023. "A new grey system approach to forecast closing price of Bitcoin, Bionic, Cardano, Dogecoin, Ethereum, XRP Cryptocurrencies," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 2429-2446, June.

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