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The emergence of cryptocurrencies has sparked significant debate regarding their role in modern financial systems. This thesis addresses two main aspects of cryptocurrencies: their viability as an investment asset and their potential to replace conventional fiat money. It especially focuses on Bitcoin and digs into the multidimensional nature of cryptocurrencies. This study clarifies the conflict between the perceived potential of cryptocurrencies as a respectable form of investment and their perceived speculative nature, as seen by their relationship with gambling-like behavior, through a thorough investigation.
Examining Bitcoin's price volatility, market acceptance, and correlation with conventional financial assets are all important parts of the inquiry into the investment possibilities of this digital currency. The magic triangle of investing will be used as an approach to analyze the returns, liquidity and risks and compare Bitcoin with other investing assets.
Furthermore, this study examines the viability of Bitcoin, as a replacement for fiat money by reconstructing Friedrich August von Hayek's monetary theory. The analysis covers the underlying technologies of cryptocurrencies, the idea of decentralized ledger systems, and the possibility of creating a reliable and effective means of exchange. This study evaluates whether cryptocurrencies could overcome the constraints and difficulties of conventional fiat currencies by contrasting Hayek's theories with the distinctive characteristics of cryptocurrencies.
This paper analyses five different Cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin and Litecoin, and studies their impact on traditional financial portfolios under different allocation strategies. The allocation strategies under consideration in this paper are the modern portfolio theory according to Markowitz, an extension of it such as the tangency portfolio, and the equally weighted portfolio. Further, this study explores the effect on the efficient frontier when Cryptocurrencies are added to the efficient portfolios. In addition to that, the paper aims to examine whether the mean – variance portfolio optimization according to Markowitz outperforms the naïve and tangency portfolio strategy. The portfolio performance is evaluated based on the Sharpe ratio. The quantitative analysis of this paper covers the time period from 2017 to 2022, in total five years. In accordance with the existing literature on portfolio optimization with Cryptocurrencies, the study reveals that besides some issues related with Cryptocurrencies such as cybercrime and a lack of regulations, Cryptocurrencies can be beneficial for portfolio diversification with traditional financial assets. Referring to the portfolio strategies, the study highlights that the optimal mean – variance portfolio and tangency portfolio do not differ significantly in terms of Sharpe ratio. However, both strategies outperform equally weighted portfolios.
The following study examines the influence selected variables have on the price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin by utilizing a multiple linear regression model. Data of 267 observations for each variable during a five-year period from 13 August 2016 to 1 October 2021 are analyzed. The results present empirical evidence on the relationship of Bitcoin and external determinants such as traditional financial assets, in particular the stock market, the bond market, domestic currencies, the real estate market, gold, and the popularity of Bitcoin, represented by a Google Trends analysis. The findings imply that only the stock market and the real estate market proxies significantly influence the price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Despite the growing interest of the media, businesses and consumers in recent years, cryptocurrencies have not reached widespread adoption to date. Research on the factors that induce consumers to use this new technology or that prevent them from using it is scarce. Therefore, this thesis aims at identifying factors that influence consumer adoption of cryptocurrencies. First, a research model based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed and extended by the factors perceived risk and perceived trust. Then, primary data was collected by conducting a survey on consumers’ perception of cryptocurrencies. The hypotheses were tested through a multiple regression analysis and perceived usefulness was found to have the strongest impact on consumers’ intention to use cryptocurrencies, followed by perceived trust. Furthermore, gender has proven to have an effect on the intention to use cryptocurrencies, with male consumers being more likely to use cryptocurrencies.
In der Geschichte des Geldes gab es bereits viele Veränderungen. Anfangs gab es den Tauschhandel, bei dem man Brot gegen Eier getauscht hat. Danach wurde Gold als Zahlungsmittel akzeptiert. Später gab es Papiergeld und anschließend zusätzlich Kredit- und Girokarten. Neuerdings wird immer häufiger diskutiert, ob die neuartigen Kryptowährungen nun der nächste Schritt in der Entwicklung des Geldes sind. Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit gibt einen Überblick über die bekannteste Kryptowährung Bitcoin sowie die ihr zugrundeliegenden Blockchain Technologie. Die jeweiligen Funktionsweisen werden erklärt und es wird auf die einzelnen Vor- und Nachteile eingegangen. Die Arbeit befasst sich zudem mit der Zukunftsfähigkeit von Bitcoin als alternative Währung und die möglichen Einflussfaktoren auf den Bitcoin Preis. Es stellt sich heraus, dass die Volatilität von Bitcoin nur schwer erklärbar ist und somit als alternative Währung zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt noch keinen Bestand hat. Die Blockchain Technologie hingegen bietet viele mögliche Applikationen, abgesehen von der Kryptowährung, wie beispielsweise dezentralisierten Wahlen oder Crowdfunding.