Homo fiducia, a critical review of the history of money  | Hugo Oliveira
Channel: Chain In
Date: 31/07/2018

Chain-in 2018: Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Conference (www.chain-in.org)
Abstract: This talk examines what made certain currencies thrive more than others and dispells certain myths about todays monetary system that are commonly touted within the cryptoassets community - from why was money really created for, to what is the role of fractional-reserve banking in todays economic prosperity, including a critique of the current obsession with making money sound again, or what some have been calling "the Bitcoin standard". To conclude, it analyses the drivers of value of the most used forms of money and compares them to the necessary characteristics for the successful development of decentralised blockchain protocols - as understanding the incentive mechanisms underlying money is useful for the various categories of cryptoassets.

Biography: A student of business & economics at the University of Porto, Hugo started his professional career as an auditor at PwC, but after ten thousand confirmations he understood his marginal value would be higher in an industry that was not on the brink of being transformed by automation. Coincidently, this was just after he first studied Bitcoin, back in 2012. After working five years for the ultimate middle-man, the Hong Kong-based Li & Fung, a global supply-chain convenor, Hugo left the dark side of the force and since last November has been writing the daily newsletter of the London Block Exchange, a UK-based company built to help consumers and institutions navigate these block waters.