IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedrwp/90439.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Cost of Information in the Blockchain: A Discussion of Routledge and Zetlin-Jones

Author

Listed:
  • Bruno Sultanum

Abstract

The volatility of crypto currencies hinders their ability to be media of exchange or stores of value, leading to the implementation of exchange-rate pegs in an attempt to stabilize these currencies. This strategy has been used by crypto currencies such as US Dollar Tether, Steem Backed Dollar and TrueUSD; and was previously adopted in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. However, an exchangerate peg is vulnerable to speculative attacks if it is not 100% backed by reserves, as discussed in Obstfeld (1996). Using insights from the bank-run literature, Routledge and Zetlin-Jones (2018) build on Green and Lin (2003) and propose a model of speculative attacks. They show that adjustments to the exchange rate can prevent speculative attacks in equilibrium. They also show how to implement such contracts using blockchain technology. In this discussion paper, I provide a cautionary tale. I show also in a version of Green and Lin (2003) that the information content in the blockchain prevents agents from attaining all the gains from risk sharing— highlighting the downsides of too much public information.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Sultanum, 2021. "The Cost of Information in the Blockchain: A Discussion of Routledge and Zetlin-Jones," Working Paper 21-02, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedrwp:90439
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.richmondfed.org/-/media/richmondfedorg/publications/research/working_papers/2021/wp21-02.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Green, Edward J. & Lin, Ping, 2003. "Implementing efficient allocations in a model of financial intermediation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 1-23, March.
    2. Andolfatto, David & Nosal, Ed, 2008. "Bank incentives, contract design and bank runs," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 28-47, September.
    3. Douglas W. Diamond & Philip H. Dybvig, 2000. "Bank runs, deposit insurance, and liquidity," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 24(Win), pages 14-23.
    4. Lin William Cong & Zhiguo He, 2019. "Blockchain Disruption and Smart Contracts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 32(5), pages 1754-1797.
    5. Obstfeld, Maurice, 1996. "Models of currency crises with self-fulfilling features," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 1037-1047, April.
    6. James Peck & Karl Shell, 2003. "Bank Portfolio Restrictions and Equilibrium Bank Runs," Levine's Bibliography 666156000000000077, UCLA Department of Economics.
    7. James Peck & Karl Shell, 2003. "Equilibrium Bank Runs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 103-123, February.
    8. Bryan Routledge & Ariel Zetlin-Jones, 2018. "Currency Stability Using Blockchain Technology," 2018 Meeting Papers 1160, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    9. Renee Courtois Haltom & Bruno Sultanum, 2018. "Preventing Bank Runs," Richmond Fed Economic Brief, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue March.
    10. Cavalcanti, Ricardo de Oliveira & Bertolai, Jefferson Donizeti Pereira & Monteiro, P. K., 2011. "A note on convergence of Peck-Shell and Green-Lin mechanisms in the Diamond-Dybvig model," FGV EPGE Economics Working Papers (Ensaios Economicos da EPGE) 722, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huberto Ennis & Todd Keister, 2016. "Optimal banking contracts and financial fragility," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 61(2), pages 335-363, February.
    2. Jiahong Gao & Robert R. Reed, 2023. "Preventing bank panics: The role of the regulator's preferences," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(2), pages 387-422, May.
    3. Routledge, Bryan & Zetlin-Jones, Ariel, 2022. "Currency stability using blockchain technology," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    4. Huang, Xuesong, 2024. "Sophisticated banking contracts and fragility when withdrawal information is public," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 19(1), January.
    5. Sim, Khai Zhi, 2024. "Bank bailouts: Moral hazard and commitment," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Gu, Chao & Monnet, Cyril & Nosal, Ed & Wright, Randall, 2023. "Diamond–Dybvig and beyond: On the instability of banking," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    7. Tarishi Matsuoka & Makoto Watanabe, 2017. "Banking Panics and Liquidity in a Monetary Economy," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-091/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. James Peck & Abolfazi Setayesh, 2023. "Bank Runs and the Optimality of Limited Banking," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 47, pages 100-110, January.
    9. Hubert J. Kiss & Ismael Rodriguez-Lara & Alfonso Rosa-Garcia, 2022. "Experimental bank runs," Chapters, in: Sascha Füllbrunn & Ernan Haruvy (ed.), Handbook of Experimental Finance, chapter 25, pages 347-361, Edward Elgar Publishing.
      • Hubert J. Kiss & Ismael Rodriguez-Lara & Alfonso Rosa-Garcia, 2021. "Experimental Bank Runs," ThE Papers 21/03, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    10. Sultanum, Bruno, 2018. "Financial fragility and over-the-counter markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 616-658.
    11. Ennis, Huberto M. & Keister, Todd, 2009. "Run equilibria in the Green-Lin model of financial intermediation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 144(5), pages 1996-2020, September.
    12. Todd Keister & Huberto M. Ennis, 2008. "Run Equilibria in a Model of Financial Intermediation," 2008 Meeting Papers 513, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Voellmy, Lukas, 2024. "Preventing runs under sequential revelation of liquidity needs," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Keister, Todd & Mitkov, Yuliyan, 2023. "Allocating losses: Bail-ins, bailouts and bank regulation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    15. Schilling, Linda, 2024. "Smooth Regulatory Intervention," MPRA Paper 120041, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Kiss, Hubert J. & Rodriguez-Lara, Ismael & Rosa-Garcia, Alfonso, 2022. "Preventing (panic) bank runs," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    17. Roberto Robatto, 2015. "Financial Crises and Systemic Bank Runs in a Dynamic Model of Banking," 2015 Meeting Papers 483, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    18. Zhiguo He & Asaf Manela, 2016. "Information Acquisition in Rumor‐Based Bank Runs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(3), pages 1113-1158, June.
    19. Bucher, Monika & Dietrich, Diemo & Tvede, Mich, 2018. "Coordination failures, bank runs and asset prices," Discussion Papers 39/2018, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    20. Li, Yang, 2017. "Interest rates and financial fragility," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 195-205.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Blockchain; Currencies; Information;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedrwp:90439. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christian Pascasio (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbrius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.