The Case for a 21 Million Bitcoin Conspiracy

Abstract​

Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies have currency-caps implemented in their protocols. Bitcoin is capped at approximately 21 million bitcoins. These protocols are complied with by consenting operators. This paper discusses whether such currency caps are illegal quantity-fixing conspiracies in violation of antitrust law. It is found that there is a present antitrust risk for cryptocurrency operators. This may render such operators subject to criminal and civil liabilities.


Sources:

1. R Ali, J Barrdear, R Clews, J Southgate - The economics of digital currencies Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, volume 54, issue 3, p. 276 - 286 , Posted: 2014
2. R Ali, J Barrdear, R Clews, J Southgate - Innovations in payment technologies and the emergence of digital currencies Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, volume 54, issue 3, p. 262 - 275 , Posted: 2014
3. See Belleflamme and Peitz (2015) for an elaboration on the theory.
4. A M Antonopoulos - Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open Blockchain , Posted: 2017

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References​

[ JOURNAL ]

Ostbye, P. (2018) "The Case for a 21 Million Bitcoin Conspiracy", SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3136044. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3136044 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3136044 (Accessed: March 7, 2018).