Cryptocurrencies are at a crossroads of technological innovation, economic paradigm shifts, and societal reimagination. To their proponents, they empower ordinary people and disrupt entrenched power structures while reducing systemic risk and providing unprecedented liquidity. But critics charge that they are prone to wild price fluctuations, empower criminals and rogue states, exacerbate inequality, and consume staggering amounts of energy. Governments have responded with varying degrees of vigilance, with some embracing them and others limiting or banning them.
Protecting Bitcoin Innovations: How Patents Are Shaping the Industry
In a few short years, cryptocurrency innovations have transformed them from digital novelties to trillion-dollar technologies that are reshaping global financial systems and the world economy. While the emergence of this nascent industry has fueled speculation and inspired investment, it has also brought with it real-world risks that affect millions of families. From cyberattacks and illicit drug activity to environmental degradation and national security risks, unchecked crypto activity has serious ramifications that must be taken seriously.
Protecting Bitcoin Innovations is an effort to ensure that the future of the global cryptocurrency industry remains bright, while mitigating real-world threats. Securities laws evolved, in part, to address the risks posed by managerial bodies that possess information that investors do not and have the capacity to act at odds with their interests. But a key innovation of decentralized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is that they do not rely on centralized corporate structures with their associated headquarters and management hierarchy, instead leveraging technology to mitigate managerial risks.