The Banking Executive, Issue 155, November 2021

sider a “revolution.” Northwestern University’s Robert Gordon, for ex- ample, questions whether the impact of more recent technological innova- tions will be as far-reaching as that of previous breakthroughs. Will smart phones prove to be as important as electricity? Will e-commerce be as transformative as steam power? Can the internet’s impact compare to that of radio and the telegraph? Revolutionary or not, Blockchain will undoubtedly have a significant impact on a variety of traditional in- dustries as it spurs the creation of new companies, products, and appli- cations. In fact, that is already hap- pening. This “mainstreaming” of Blockchain applications marks the end of the first stage of the technol- ogy’s development. Now, cryptocurrency is entering the next phase of its evolution: becom- ing an investable asset. To be sure, Cryptocurrencies are already an asset, with a market capitalization of around $2 trillion. But it is a market marred by fraud, scandals, insider trading, pump-and-dump schemes, and other shady or illegal activities. This is the case even for the “safest” Cryptocurrencies, stable coins, which are supposed to be backed by hard currency. In fact, Gary B. Gor- ton, from Yale University, and Jeffery Zhang, a member of the US Federal Reserve System’s Board of Gover- ISSUE 155 NOVEMBER 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 19