Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology

Cryptocurrency and blockchain are often discussed as though they were only investment stories. This scholarly handbook widens the frame, bringing together research on how digital assets function, how their markets behave, and the legal, ethical, environmental, and regulatory questions that accompany them.

Edited by Shaen Corbet, Andrew Urquhart, and Larisa Yarovaya, the collection offers a multidisciplinary view of a fast-evolving subject. Its chapters are useful for readers who want to understand not just the promise of cryptoassets, but also the uncertainty and risks surrounding their development.

More than a market story

The book opens with an introduction to cryptocurrencies, then turns to blockchain and economic transactions and the development of cryptocurrency research. Further chapters examine financial characteristics, market structure, and the relationship between Bitcoin and U.S. technology-stock returns. Together, these contributions place the assets in a broader financial and economic context.

Questions beyond price and performance

Several chapters look at issues that investors and institutions cannot easily set aside: initial coin offerings and their potential misuse, the ethical and legal dimensions of blockchain and cryptoassets, and the environmental effects associated with cryptocurrencies. The closing chapter reviews a decade of development through the lens of technological and regulatory ambiguity.

A research-led guide to a complicated field

Rather than promising investment advice or a practical how-to, this edited volume presents a range of scholarly perspectives and areas of debate. It may suit finance and economics researchers, advanced students, and legal, accounting, taxation, or investment professionals seeking a structured introduction to major cryptocurrency and blockchain questions.

Read the technology alongside its consequences

For readers studying digital finance, the collection’s value lies in its breadth: technical foundations sit alongside market behavior, governance, and real-world concerns. It provides a considered starting point for exploring a subject where financial innovation and unresolved challenges continue to meet.