Bitcoin et chaîne de blocs : état des lieux et implications pour la gouvernance mondiale

Abstract

By the end of the year 2017, the stock price of the Bitcoin got close to the symbolic threshold of 20 000 USD, which created a growing interest from business circles, media, decision-makers and the general public alike. The scientific community was not to be outdone since entire research streams emerged on this topic in various disciplines such as finance, economics, marketing, ethics, information technology, and laws. The interest for the cryptocurrencies – blockchain duo, in general, and Bitcoin, in particular –, was nonetheless limited to the study of technical aspects, transactional capacities, and implications for commerce and finance. So far, little research examined the consequences of decentralized, peer-to-peer exchange systems, such as Bitcoin and blockchain, on the current configurations of global governance. The objective of this article is to present a commentated report of the collective book Bitcoin and Beyond: Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and Global Governance. In this book, Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn harnesses several authors in order to shed some light on the manner in which the blockchain goes beyond the strict economic and financial framework to enter the realm of politic, legal and judicial spheres. By so doing, the book highlights numerous implications of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain for global governance, that are often unknown and not so much studied in the literature, but which lie at the crux of an increasingly globalized world.