Virtual currency schemes – the future of financial services
Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to determine the future role of virtual currencies. This paper indicates their pros and cons as alternatives to “real” money and explains their appearance as the reflection of the present trends. It also presents the possible scenarios of their development. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the former foresight research results and literature review. It highlights the main trends in contemporary economy and their impact on financial services. The Bitcoin case is the starting point for the virtual currencies’ market analysis and construction of possible market changes scenarios. Findings – Virtual currency schemes are the reflection of present trends. They are just ahead of our times but may become a common means of payment, changing the way of providing financial services, eliminating intermediaries and marginalizing the role of financial institutions. Research limitations/implications – The multiplicity of virtual currencies and ceaseless introducti...
Bitcoin analysis from an investor ’ s perspective Insight into market relations and diversification possibilities
This paper studies how the increased maturity of Bitcoin as an asset class influences its characteristics from an investor’s point of view. The first aim was to determine whether there is a relation between Bitcoin trade volume in 8 different currencies, change in equity trade volume and price, and three separate proxies for market uncertainty via a regression. Secondly, a regression is set up to quantify the relationship between Bitcoin prices and macroeconomic variables and lastly an efficient frontier with a wide variety of assets classes in constructed to determine what Bitcoin risk-return characteristics add to a diversified portfolio. The results show different findings to past research, with market uncertainty having a significant effect on Bitcoin trade volume for certain currencies. Furthermore, the results with regards to the macroeconomic variables show that the S&P500 price has a positive effect on Bitcoin prices. Lastly, the efficient frontier shows that there is no place for Bitcoin within the global minimum-variance portfolio, but there are benefits to adding Bitcoin to an investment portfolio. Taken together, these results suggest that the increase in maturity of Bitcoin as an asset class, leads to higher levels of predictability, making it an an asset class that could develop into a serious alternative for all investors.
How Is a Possession “Me” or “Not Me”? Characterizing Types and an Antecedent of Material Possession Attachment
Material possession attachment, a property of the relationship between a specific person and a specific object of possession, reflects the extent of “me-ness” associated with that possession. The two Q-methodological studies reported here investigated the nature of this me-ness (and “not me-ness”). Study 1 explores different types of attachment and how these types portray various facets of a person's life story (i.e., identity). It shows how strong versus weak attachment, affiliation and/or autonomy seeking, and past, present, or future temporal orientation combine to form qualitatively distinct types of psychological significance. Study 2 begins development of a nomological network encompassing attachment by showing how mode of gift receipt (self-gift vs. interpersonal gift), as an antecedent, influences attachment type. Study 2 also examines aspects of successful and unsuccessful gifts. Both studies demonstrate that unidimensional affect fails to adequately describe or explain attachment. Together, the two studies suggest a more parsimonious way to represent person-possession relationships than has been offered in previous studies. Moreover, the findings help delineate the boundaries of attachment (e.g., What does it mean to say a possession is “not me”?).