Cryptocurrencies, DeFi and the Blockchain: Markets, Regulation and Policy

Even in the depths of a “crypto winter,” the fiery rhetoric of disruption stills burns bright. Cryptocurrency believers openly challenge the long-held monopoly of nation-states in the creation of money. Proponents of blockchain technology promise a world of decentralized finance (DeFi) unburdened by the intermediation of traditional financial institutions, central banks, and government regulators. While there is no doubt some hyperbole at work here, it is indisputable that in some form, the remaking of money and finance is very much upon us. How can and should financial institutions, national regulators, and global bodies respond? This course explores both the rhetoric and reality of cryptocurrency and DeFi as well as the challenges of creating new oversight protocols around a technology engineered to distribute governance and anonymize participation. Legacy finance infrastructures and regulatory protocols have been engineered to create and maintain systemic trust. How can such trust be created in the world of cryptocurrency and DeFi? Does it need to be?