This timely Companion offers keen insights into the challenges of valuing digital versus traditional assets, exploring how behavioral and social traits, states, and actions can cause biased perspectives in over- or underestimating the value of digital assets. It provides an objective, scientific view of topics around decentralized finance, digital assets, and blockchain technology.

Innovative and comprehensive, the Companion first lays out an overview of how decentralization can impact existing financial systems before exploring decentralized lending and predicting the role of digital assets in future payments. Chapters highlight specific regulatory considerations and the role of central banks, analyzing how cryptocurrencies interact with monetary policy and their potential effects on emerging economies. The book further explores theoretical and empirical foundations for digital assets before examining their impact on the environment and society.

Providing a detailed analysis of the status quo of the ecosystem and looking ahead to a crypto-based approach for a sustainable and inclusive future, this book will be an invigorating read for economics students, as well as economists, regulators, and bankers.