Information

This course will survey academic research in the emerging area of FinTech, an interdisciplinary field which studies the application of Information Technology to the Finance area. The FinTech movement began a decade ago with the publication of Nakamoto’s (2008) proposal for the first successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. However, it is now recognized that FinTech builds upon important antecedents such as Haber and Stornetta’s (1991) introduction of blockchains and distributed ledgers and Szabo’s (1997) ideas for smart contracts. We will survey the foundational literature of cryptocurrency, blockchains, smart contracts, consensus protocols, and related regulatory issues.  Applications of FinTech in areas such as corporate finance, central banking, investment management, real estate, supply chain management, and personal finance will be studied. We will also study crypto asset investment markets including recent developments in the derivative and NFT markets. We will draw upon the academic literature currently being featured in numerous research conferences and special issues of some of the leading peer reviewed journals.  We will conduct some hands-on data exercises using live FinTech data from public blockchains.

Please note that the Netherlands is a particularly active contributor to FinTech with important applications being introduced in locations such as the Port of Rotterdam: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/europes-largest-shipping-port-launches-blockchain-field-lab/