By Giovanna Massarotto Blockchain technology is a relatively new phenomenon that many of its proponents believe can help to decentralize the economy and enable economic freedom. However, what decentralization means is often unclear. Importantly, we have a century of economic studies focused on decentralization, offering valuable lessons to inform today’s…Read More
Blog
Lessons from Brazil: Central Banks Fostering Innovation
By Mallika Patkar and Joselyn Salazar According to the Atlantic Council’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Tracker, 134 countries and currency unions, representing 98% of global GDP, are currently exploring a CBDC. This marks a significant increase from just 35 countries in May 2020. While many countries are exploring CBDCs,…Read More
America at a Crossroads: Securing Global Digital Asset Leadership
By Sarah Hammer, Executive Director at the Wharton School and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School America stands at the precipice of a digital finance revolution—a historic opportunity to lead global innovation, but one that other nations are rapidly mobilizing to capture. Throughout my career investigating…Read More
A Primer on Banking-as-a-Service
By JV Pineda Over the past few years, advancements in technology and regulation such as cloud-based infrastructure, open banking regulations, and Application Programming Interface (API)-driven services have paved the way for new models of the delivery of banking services. Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is one of these newly emerged models, enabling non-bank entities…Read More
A Primer on Prediction Markets
By Victoria Liu and Djavaneh Bierwirth Crowdsourcing opinions, experiences and answers is not news to the Internet. Per Wolfers and Zitzewitz, “the power of prediction markets derives from the fact that they provide incentives for truthful revelation, they provide incentives for research and information discovery, and the market provides an…Read More
Enabling Economic Freedom in the Digital Economy: The Intersection of Blockchain and Antitrust
By Giovanna Massarotto In this article, I will briefly review my work on blockchain and antitrust as a way of regulating digital markets, demonstrating how blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) are inherently connected to the principles of antitrust law and can work synergistically in driving innovation by pursuing economic freedom…Read More
Time for Offense: Why America Needs Bold Crypto Legislation Now
By Sarah Hammer Crypto’s Promise: Redefining Finance from the Ground Up Every trade is a battle for dominance on Wall Street. It was here, starting my career as a derivatives trader in the high-stakes markets for global financial giants, that I saw firsthand the limits of a financial system stressed…Read More
Antitrust and Digital Finance: The Visa Case
By Giovanna Massarotto In the emerging digital economy, antitrust regulation has come to the forefront. After being declared dead in 2017, antitrust is back on the scene by reviving the trust-busting era. In recent years, multiple antitrust proceedings have been opened against Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple. The Department of…Read More
2024 IMF-WIFPR Conference
On June 18, 2024, the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation and the International Monetary Fund co-hosted the Conference on Financial and Real Implications of Technologies, AI, and Cyber Risks at the IMF Headquarters in Washington D.C. This conference explored the influence of technological advancements, AI integration, and cyber…Read More IMF-WIFPR Panel: New Technologies and Artificial Intelligence
On June 18, 2024, the Wharton Initiative on Financial Policy and Regulation (WIFPR) co-hosted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the IMF-WIFPR Conference on Financial and Real Implications of Technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cyber Risks. This is the second annual IMF-WIFPR conference, following up on last year’s Conference on…Read More