Technology versus trust: Non-bank credit systems from notarized loans in Early Modern Europe to cryptolending
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2024
Citazione:
Technology versus trust: Non-bank credit systems from notarized loans in Early Modern Europe to cryptolending / L. Fantacci, M. Lorenzini. - In: STRUCTURAL CHANGE AND ECONOMIC DYNAMICS. - ISSN 0954-349X. - 69:(2024), pp. 83-95. [Epub ahead of print] [10.1016/j.strueco.2023.11.010]
Abstract:
The application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in the financial sector has fostered the development of
new services that are frequently referred to collectively as ‘decentralized finance’, or DeFi. In the wake of these
recent developments many observers and practitioners regard DLT as a major technological disruption to the
financial system, possibly leading to the complete disintermediation of banks and to their substitution with a
network of bilateral relations between borrowers and lenders recorded in a common ledger. Recent historiography
has shown that a potentially analogous system existed in Ancien R´egime societies whereby finance was
provided not only by specialized intermediaries, but also by an ‘informal’ credit network where debtors and
creditors entered directly into relationship through notaries. In this paper, we carry out a systematic comparison
between cryptolending, an extreme form of DeFi at the technological frontier, and the early system of peer-topeer
lending represented by notarized loans in the early modern period. Our aim is to assess the true novelty
of current practices and to understand if, and in what sense, the technological innovation represented by DLT can
effectively produce a structural change in the functioning of the financial system.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
Cryptocurrency; Decentralized finance; Early modern finance; Non-bank credit; Peer-to-peer lending
Elenco autori:
L. Fantacci, M. Lorenzini
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