Uncovering the secrets of bitcoin's success

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency and a decentralized payment system. The transactions between two parties are approved not by a central institution but by the peers of the network. Bitcoin uses cryptography and software algorithms to control the units of generation and to verify the transactions on the network. However, bitcoin is the not the only cryptocurrency with these capabilities. There are more than 600 cryptocurrencies in the market. Nonetheless, bitcoin is the most successful cryptocurrency to date with the highest market cap, transaction volume, merchant adoption, and venture capital investments. In this thesis, the author investigates why bitcoin is the most successful cryptocurrency to date. The author's research identified that bitcoin's success is rooted in its ability to become an effective multisided platform with network effects.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering and Management Program

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Kosgi, Karthic Prasad

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Barbara Wixom.

• Engineering and Management Program.
• System Design and Management Program.
• Engineering Systems Division.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107369

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/107369