Igor Pejic - Blockchain Babel: The Crypto Craze and the Challenge to Business

Blockchain Babel is a sobering, intelligent and audacious take on clarifying blockchains many myths and misunderstandings. Every banking executive should read this book.

John Waupsh, author of Bankruption and Chief Innovation Officer, Kasasa

This book helps to disentangle the hype and get a clean glance on to a technology whose real business potential we have merely scratched so far.

Georg Hauer, General Manager Austria, N26 Group

Blockchain Babel is how all books on blockchain should be: well-balanced, myth-debunking, thought-provoking and entertaining enough to get you through to the end! A must-read guide for those who want to know more about blockchain technology beyond the hype and the way it will disrupt (or not!) the financial services sector globally.

Markos Zachariadis, Associate Professor of Information Systems and Management, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, and Fintech Research Fellow at the Cambridge Centre for Digital Innovation, University of Cambridge

Blockchain Babel breaks the most common myths concerning blockchain technology in a smart and comprehensible manner. In this wonderful book, Pejic shapes a new understanding of the future development of blockchain technology.

Philipp Sandner, Head of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management

Igor Pejic takes an inside look at the crypto craze gold rush that is challenging banks, and peers around the corner at the complex world of international finance. Buckle up for a remarkable and intriguing blockchain ride that will forever change the payment system and slice across all industries. A powerful read and examination of the blockchain revolution unfolding before us now.

Stephen G Andrews, Community Bank President and Fintech enthusiast

The number of publications on blockchain technology coming out every day can be measured in metres of bookshelves right now. All the more remarkable is Igor Peijcs book, as it is highly informative, full of substance and engaging to read, despite the subjects complexity. Whether you want to get a good overview or dig in deep into the matter, you can get both out of this book. After reading this, blockchain will no longer be a mystery to you.

Barbara Stttinger, Dean, WU Executive Academy, Vienna

In his riveting, yet analytic account of blockchain, Igor Pejic is shaping a new understanding of the technology that will transform banking and business. Blockchain Babel is a powerful compass to navigate the vast seas of crypto-literature.

Jrgen Kob, Board Member of various companies and FinFluencer

Igor Pejic has written one of the most comprehensive books about blockchain, in a clear and precise manner. Its a must-read for anyone involved in future business developments if they dont want to miss the blockchain revolution.

Marc Toledo, Managing Director, Bit4you.io

Publishers note

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author.

First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2019 by Kogan Page Limited

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:

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Igor Pejic, 2019

All views expressed are authors own.

The right of Igor Pejic to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

ISBNs

Hardback 978 0 7494 9798 9

Paperback 978 0 7494 8416 3

Ebook 978 0 7494 8417 0

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Pejic, Igor, author.

Title: Blochchain Babel : the crypto-craze and the challenge to the banks / Igor Pejic

Description: 1 Edition. | New York : Kogan Page Ltd, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018053947| ISBN 9780749484163 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780749497989 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780749484170 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Bitcoin. | Cryptocurrencies. | Banks and banking.

Classification: LCC HG1710 .P45 2019 | DDC 332.10285/57--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018053947

Typeset by Integra Software Services, Pondicherry

Print production managed by Jellyfish

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY

To my family and my wife

Igor Pejic has held different management positions in banking and payments, most recently as the Head of Marketing at BNP Paribas PF AT, part of Europes largest banking group. He has advised Fortune 100 companies and taught at the University of Vienna, from which he also holds three degrees: an MA in English Linguistics, as well as a BA and MA in Journalism. Additionally, he completed an MBA at the WU Executive Academy.

As an ex-business journalist, he regularly comments on payments, banking, and tech-driven shifts in the media. McKinsey and the Financial Times voted him as one of three finalists in the Bracken Bower Prize in 2016 for his work on blockchain, which has resulted in this book.

Silicon Valley is coming, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (2015) admonished the banks shareholders. Though avoiding its name, he was referring to the blockchain, the technology behind bitcoin. This technology has the potential to force the finance industry through a change unseen for centuries.

The blockchain is a computer protocol enabling distributed ledgers and promising almost instantaneous and near free-value transactions. Money and assets can be moved without a central authority; validation is performed via a peer-to-peer network without the need for powerful intermediaries to authenticate or settle transactions.

The ground-breaking technology is no longer a fad favoured by nefarious wheelers and dealers. While bitcoin is still the first and best-known blockchain, the hunt for the killer application is in full swing. Following an explosion of fintech start-ups in the last five years, thousands of them are now hounding the industry that fuels the global economy. Investors keep injecting capital at an unprecedented speed, but at fintech and payments conferences, the blue jeans of Silicon Valley have given way to the suits of Wall Street. Start-ups are managed by experienced executives of big banks, while an impressive list of companies is lining up behind initiatives such as the R3 CEV consortium, a collaboration of leading financial institutions to define a common blockchain standard between them. The Hyperledger Project has a similar goal for business applications. As early as 2015, a study by Greenwich Associates found that 94 per cent of Wall Street bankers believed the blockchain had the potential to change the finance sector forever (Leising, 2015). We are seeing an industry collectively rising to combat the threat of a Kodak moment on their turf, with bankers and their ilk rushing to become the main purveyors of a future cashless world.