Good Disruption: Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin. Tether. Dogecoin. These are some of the most popular cryptocurrencies traded around the world. The sheer number of crypto options available today suggests significant market disruption is underway. Building on open-source blockchain technology, developers have created more than 4,500 cryptocurrencies.

Yet where there is hype, there is also volatility. Just last year, the value of bitcoin dropped by $6 billion within weeks of Tesla announcing that it would not accept it and China warning that it would block all crypto exchanges. After recovering and reaching an all-time high later in the year, the price once again dipped at the beginning of 2022.

Is it merely the newness of crypto that is causing this volatility, or does the concern go deeper? What are the benefits of shifting the economy toward digital currencies? What are the concerns? Who will benefit?

About the Expert

Kinda Hachem

Morris Plan Associate Professor of Consumer Credit

An expert in banking, macroeconomics and monetary economics, Hachem’s research explores the implications of bank decision-making, the unintended consequences of financial regulation and the effect of central bank communication on expectations. In addition to her role as a member of the Darden faculty, she serves as a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Prior to joining Darden’s Global Economies and Markets area, Hachem taught at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Before earning her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Toronto, she worked at RBC Financial Group and the Bank of Canada.

B.Sc., M.A., Ph.D., University of Toronto

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About the Expert

Yael Grushka-Cockayne

Senior Associate Dean for Professional Degree Programs; Altec Styslinger Foundation Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration

Grushka-Cockayne’s research and teaching activities focus on decision analysis, forecasting, project management and behavioral decision-making.

As an expert in the area of project management, she has served as a consultant to international firms in the aerospace and transportation industries. She is the secretary/treasurer of INFORMS Decision Analysis Society, a U.Va. Excellence in Diversity fellow and member the Project Management Institute.

B.Sc., Ben-Gurion University; M.Sc., London School of Economics; M.Res., Ph.D., London Business School

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About the Expert

Michael Lenox

Special Adviser for the Dean; Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration

Lenox’s expertise is in the domain of technology strategy and policy. He studies the role of innovation in helping a business succeed. In particular, he explores the sourcing of external knowledge by firms and this practice’s impact on a company’s innovation strategy. Lenox has a longstanding interest in the interface between business strategy and public policy as it relates to the natural environment; his work explores firm strategies and nontraditional public policies that have the potential to drive green innovation and entrepreneurship.

In 2013, Lenox co-authored The Strategist’s Toolkit with Darden Professor Jared Harris. His latest book,

Lenox is a prolific author; his most recent book, Strategy in the Digital Age: Mastering Digital Transformation, examines how digital technologies and services enable the creation of innovative products and services, as well as identifying new competitive positions.

B.S., M.S., University of Virginia; Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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