Are cryptocurrencies the new “financial weapons of mass destruction”?

Abstract

<ns3:p>Before 2008, one thing that could be said about the derivatives market was that they were anything but regulated. Nowadays, the same thing can be said about the current financial innovation: cryptocurrencies. However, there are many private law institutions which have not been regulated for centuries, yet they did not trigger a worldwide financial crisis. The reason for that is that the financial crisis constituted a complex phenomenon caused by many factors, occurring jointly and affecting the derivatives market in unison, not just by lack of regulation. This paper will elaborate whether factors which, in the opinion of the author, caused the recent financial crisis, currently exist, or can occur in the future, in the cryptocurrency market. Such a study will allow a conclusion to be drawn as to whether cryptocurrencies are capable of triggering a similar financial crisis as derivatives did before their current partial regulation.</ns3:p>