The main aim of this article is to explain how a computer process, the «Blockchain» or chain of blocks, can generate the necessary trust for the creation, acceptance and increasingly widespread use of digital currencies, under a new concept or paradigm of money not maintained by any state or supranational entity: cryptocurrencies. In order to understand this process, the technical aspects of how the blockchain operates and how it has managed to generate confidence in the end user are explained first. Secondly, its implementation will be analyzed through the best known of all, Bitcoin, and through the data related to the expansion and use of the main cryptocurrencies in a market that in the last two years has multiplied by 65, reaching half a trillion dollars. This work closes by exposing the main conclusions and reflections.
In the current context, where the objective of the central banks is their fight against deflation and sustainable economic growth, the value of money—that is, the interest rate—and the value of a currency—the exchange rate—play an essential role in making decisions about monetary policy.
The use of new technologies has led to growth in the size and complexity of financial markets. This expansion and transformation of finance has led to the frequent emergence of new financial products which demand a society capable of adequately understanding how these markets operate, in order to be better informed when making saving, investment and borrowing decisions.
Despite the fact that the education of society in financial matters is still a distant concept, technology is advancing and radical changes are being made to how we conduct transactions and guarantee the fulfilment of contracts through a new protocol called «blockchain», which may represent a new trading platform in the financial markets and in society in general.
This article presents a reading on the implications of an extremely loose monetary policy considering two basic instruments: extremely low interest rates and synchronised devaluation of currencies in different economies. Some of the reasons that explain the rise of digital currencies and their security system are also analysed.