Digital Currencies: Beyond Bitcoin

Abstract

In this article, we review the recent developments in the digital currency landscape. We survey the economic drivers that led to the creation of digital currencies and show that they are a natural step in the evolution of means of payment. We overview two major classes of digital currencies, cryptocurrencies and platform-based digital currencies and discuss how the design of such currencies affects the incentives of their users and ultimately their popularity. Finally, we discuss competition in the digital currency market.