Technologie vs. Institutions? Blockchain as a threat for the banking system.

银行是资本主义经济的基本机构。然而，金融服务的数字化为金融行业的新参与者打开了一扇窗：金融科技公司（FinTechs），这是初创企业的首字母缩略词，承担了以前由银行保留的任务和功能，如贷款、支付或投资。这种创新最激进的形式是基于区块链技术的金融科技。比特币背后的技术区块链是一种分布式数字账本，所有交易都记录在其中，因此无法事后操纵。换句话说：区块链基本上是一种新的会计形式，其特点是完全透明的账户和交易，由数字分类账记录，无需由银行或国家等可信任的第三方进行验证。鉴于这些特点，大多数专家认为b区块链是自互联网出现以来最重大的创新。在纯粹的点对点基础上结算交易（如付款、贷款或产权的合同规定）的可能性包含了不同类型的希望和愿景。来自非政府组织或社会运动（如Coin Center或Blockchainhub）背景的参与者设想了一个实际上透明的金融体系，这将允许对资产和遗产进行现实的征税，并更有效地打击腐败。另一方面，商业参与者（如银行、会计组织或软件公司）正在为金融系统中过时的IT基础设施寻找解决方案。该项目关注的问题是区块链是否会彻底改变银行体系的核心要素：信任（或其制度化形式）。为了解决这个广泛的问题，该项目旨在研究哪种类型的参与者能够使用这种新的，因此，未定义的技术。该项目包括三个模块。第一个模块旨在通过对专家进行定性访谈来了解区块链技术的风险和潜力。第二个模块试图通过对专利数据的计量经济学分析来补充对b区块链领域创新动态的理解。第三个模块将通过研究区块链初创企业的并购活动来映射不同行为者对区块链的占用过程。

Banks are fundamental institutions of capitalist economies. However, the digitalization of financial services opened a window for new players in the financial industry: FinTechs, an acronym for start-ups, which take on tasks and functions previously reserved for banks, such as lending, payments, or investment. The most radical form of this innovation is represented by FinTechs based on Blockchain technology. Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, is a distributed digital ledger, in which all transactions are recorded and, therefore, cannot be manipulated ex post. In other words: Blockchain is basically a new form of accounting, characterized by fully transparent accounts and transactions, recorded by a digital ledger that does not have to be validated by a trusted third party such as a bank or a state. Given these features most experts regard Blockchain as the most substantial innovation since the emergence of the internet. The possibility of settling transactions (such as payment, lending, or the contractual stipulation of property rights) on a purely peer-to-peer basis contains hopes and visions of different kind. Actors from a background in NGOs or social movements (like Coin Center or Blockchainhub) envision a financial system that is actually transparent, which would allow the realistic taxation of assets and inheritances as well as a more effective fight against corruption. Commercial actors (such as banks, accounting organizations or software companies) on the other hand, are looking for solutions for the outdated IT infrastructure of the financial system. The project focuses on the question whether Blockchain will revolutionize the central element of the banking system: trust (or its institutionalized forms). To approach this broad question the project aims to study which type of actors are capable to appropriate this new and therefore, undefined technology. The project comprises three modules. The first module aims to understand the risks and potential of the Blockchain technology by conducting qualitative interviews with experts. The second module attempts to supplement the understanding of the innovation dynamics in the field of Blockchain by the econometric analyses of patent data. The processes of appropriation of Blockchain by different actors will be mapped in the third module by studying the Mergers & Acquisition (M&A) activities of Blockchain start-ups.