Research Papers, White Papers & Presentations
Coin Think Tank is dedicated to accelerating the adoption and understanding of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. This page contains research that explains the purpose and use case of the proposed technology (i.e., coin or token). These research papers and presentations were created by founders, developers, and researchers to enhance understanding, knowledge and awareness of their projects or proposals. While reviewing each report keep in mind the publication date and the significant improvements, and/or delays, and/or setbacks, that are likely to have occurred within the protocols, methodologies and implementations since the project began or date of publication.
Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
An Innovation In Payments - R3 2020
Central Banking for All - Federal Reserve Bank Philadelphia 2020
Central Banking in the Digital Age - Brookings Institute 2018
Central Banks and the Future of Digital Money - Consensys 2020
Central Banks and Distributed Ledger Technology - World Economic Forum 2019
Exploring a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency - Digital Dollar Project 2020
Features, Options, Pros, and Cons - BBVA 2019
List of All Current Central Bank Digital Currency and Stablecoin Initiatives - (external link) - Security Token Advisors 2020
Objectives, Preconditions, and Design Choices - De Nederlandsche Bank 2020
Opportunities, Challenges and Design - Bank of England 2020
Perspective of a Couple of Canadian Central Bankers - Bank of Canada 2019
Policymaker Toolkit - World Economic Forum 2020
Rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies - PricewaterhouseCoopers 2019
Understanding Central Bank Digital Currencies - Institute and Faculty of Actuaries 2019
CBDC Special Reports by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
Central Bank Cryptocurrencies - 2017
Central Banks and Payments in the Digital Era - Annual Report (Chapter 3) - 2020
Committee of Payments and Market Infrastructures - 2018
Designing a Prudential Treatment for Crypto Assets - 2019
Distributed Ledger Technology in Payment Clearing and Settlement - 2017
Money in a Digital Age - 10 Thoughts - 2018
Money in the Digital Age: What Role for Central Banks - 2018
Proceeding With Caution – A Survey on Central Bank Digital Currencies - 2019
Regulating Cryptocurrencies: Assessing Market Reactions - 2018
Stablecoins
Challenges of Global Stablecoins - 2020 Financial Stability Board
Global Stablecoin Initiatives - International Organization of Securities Commission 2020
How Do Crypto Markets Use Stable Coins - USDC 2020
Investigating the Impact of Global Stablecoins - Bank for International Settlements 2019
Regulatory Issues of Stablecoins - Financial Stability Board 2019
Stable Coin Evolution and Market Trends - PricewaterhouseCoopers 2018
Stablecoins 2.0 - Wall Street Blockchain Alliance and CPA.com 2020
The State of Stablecoins 2018 - Blockchain.com 2018
The State of Stablecoins 2019 - Samman and Masanto 2019
* Learn more above Stablecoins in our category below entitled "Coin and Token Whitepapers"
Reports by Institutions, Think Tanks, and Legal/Accounting Firms
A Short Introduction to the World of Cryptocurrencies - St. Louis Federal Reserve Review 2018
Bitcoin: A Primer - Chicago Federal Reserve Letter 2013
Bitcoin: A Primer for Policy Makers - Mercatus Center at GMU 2013
Bitcoin: A Primer for Policy Makers - Mercatus Center at GMU 2016
Bitcoin and Virtual Currencies: Welcome to your Regulator - Havard Business Law Review 2016
Bitcoin, Blockchain, and the Energy Sector - Congressional Research Service 2019
Bitcoin is Speech: Concepts of Protection Under the First Amendment - University of Miami Law Review 2019
Bitcoin: Myths, Misconceptions and Misunderstandings - Deutsche Bank 2018
Bitcoin Pricing, Adoption, and Usage - Stanford – Institute for Econ Policy Research 2016
Bitcoin: Technical Background and Data Analysis - Federal Reserve Board 2014
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Regulation - Global Legal Group 2019
Blockchain: Distributed Ledger Technology and Designing the Future - Reed Smith LLP 2019
Blockchain for Dummies - IBM 2017
Blockchain in Logistics - DHL and Accenture 2017
Blockchain Now and Tomorrow - European Union 2019
Blockchain Technology - Beyond Bitcoin - UC Berkeley Engineering 2015
Blockchain Adoption In Financial Services - Infosys 2019
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency in Africa - Baker McKenzie 2019
Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technology Brochure - U.S. GAO 2019
Blockchain and Suitability for Government Applications - Analytic Exchange Program 2018
Blockchain Opportunities for Supply Chains - Consensys 2018
Case for Electronic Cash - Coin Center 2015
CFTC Primer on Virtual Currencies - LabCFTC 2017
CFTC's Questions Regarding Ethereum - Coin Center 2019
Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain - World Bank 2018
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: Background and Regulatory Approaches - Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau 2018
Cryptocurrency And Your Retirement Plan - Journal of Pension Benefits 2019
Cryptocurrencies Are Only The Beginning - Credit Suisse 2018
Cryptocurrency as a Payment Method - Public Private Analytic Exchange Program 2017
Cryptocurrency Market Evolution Outline - CFTC Subcommittee 2018
Cryptocurrency: The Economics of Money and Selected Policy Issues - Congressional Research Service 2020
Crypto ThesIs for 2020 - Messari Research 2020
Digital Asset Platform - Non-technical White Paper - Digital Asset Holdings 2016
Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain - World Bank 2017
Economics of Cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin and Beyond - Bank of Canada 2019
Editing The Uneditable Blockchain - Accenture 2016
Ethereum A Secure Decentralized Generalized Transaction Ledger - Dr. Gavin Wood 2014
Exploring Blockchain Transformative Applications in Real Estate - Navitas Capital 2018
Facebook’s Libra 2.0 - Why You Might Like It Even If You Can't Trust Facebook - Brookings Institute 2020
Financing Bitcoin: The Problem of Actual Delivery - Greenberg Traurig, LLP 2018
Framework for Securities Regulation of Cryptocurrencies - Coin Center 2018
Future of Payments: Digital Currencies - Deutsche Bank 2020
Global Legal Insights - Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Regulation - Global Legal Group Ltd 2019
How Blockchain is Transforming Capital Market - LTI 2018
How Cryptocurrency Can Build Social and Solidarity Finance - United Nations 2016
Impacts of the Blockchain on Fund Distribution - Deloitte 2018
Infrastructure for Crypto Assets - International Securities Services Association 2018
Institutionalization of Cryptoassets - KPMG 2018
Introduction to Bitcoin - Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency 2014
Introduction to Bitcoin - Institute for Financial Economics 2015
Market Compass: Bitcoin Development March 2020 - Glassnode 2020
Market Compass: Bitcoin Development April 2020 - Glassnode 2020
Market Compass: Bitcoin Development May 2020 - Glassnode 2020
Path To SEC and CFTC Compliance - Global Legal Insights 2019
Policymaker’s Guide to Blockchain - Information Technology and Innovation Foundation 2019
Primer on Blockchain for International Development - USAID 2018
Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World - Library of Congress 2018
Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around in Selected Jurisdictions - Library of Congress 2018
State Digitial Currency Principles and Framework - Coin Center 2015
Survey on Security and Privacy Issues of Bitcoin - IEEE 2017
Strengthen the Regulation of Crypto Assets - Brookings Institute 2019
The Crypto Assets Experience - Milken Institute 2018
Tokenized Securities & Commercial Real Estate - MIT Digital Currency Initiative 2019
Treatment of Bitcoin Under U.S. Property Law - 2017 - Perkins Coie LLP 2017
Treatment of Crypto Assets in Macroeconomic Statistics - International Monetary Fund 2018
Virtual Currencies: Emerging Regulatory Law Enforcement and Consumer Protection Challenges - U.S. GAO 2014
Virtual Currencies: Guidance To Improve Tax Compliance - U.S. GAO 2020
Virtual Currency Regulation Review - Law Business Research Ltd 2019
Reports by Investment Banks, Private Equity, and Analysts
Digital Asset Glossary (external link) - Fidelity Digital Assets 2020
ABCs of Bitcoin - Wilmington Trust 2017
All About Bitcoin - Goldman Sachs 2014
Bitcoin: A Disruptive Currency - ARK Invest 2015
Bitcoin and Blockchain: Considerations for Investment Managers - Winstead Attorneys 2017
Bitcoin Investment Trust - Grayscale 2018
Bitcoin: Is it a Bursting Bubble? - Goldman Sachs 2018
Bitcoin Investor Study - Grayscale 2019
Bitcoin Obsoletes All Other Money (external link) - Unchained Capital 2020
Bitcoin Stock to Flow (S2F) Model (external link) - "Plan B" - Anonymous Analyst
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust Proposal to U.S. SEC - Vaneck Securities 2019
Blockchain in Private Equity - Northern Trust 2018
Blockchain Funds (external link) - Pantera Capital 2020
Blockchain Opportunity (external link) - Pantera Capital 2018
Blockchain: Putting Theory into Practice - Goldman Sachs 2016
Cryptoassets and Blockchain: An Investor's Guide - Wellington Management 2018
Crypto Capitalism: Emergence of a New Financial System - Morgan Creek Capital 2018
Crypto Hedge Fund Report - PricewaterhouseCoopers 2019
Crypto Hedge Fund Report - PricewaterhouseCoopers 2020
Crypto Research Report Edition I - Incrementum Asset and Wealth Management 2017
Crypto Research Report Edition II - Incrementum Asset and Wealth Management 2018
Crypto Research Report Edition III - Incrementum Asset and Wealth Management 2018
Crypto Research Report Edition IV - Incrementum Asset and Wealth Management 2018
Crypto Research Report Edition V - Incrementum Asset and Wealth Management 2019
Crypto's Role in a Diversified Portfolio (external link) - Bitwise Asset Management 2019
Economic and Non-Economic Trading in Bitcoin - Bitwise Asset Management 2019
How Millennials are Powering Wall Street’s Interest in Crypto (external link) - Fundstrat 2018
Introduction to Ethereum - Grayscale 2020
Introduction Ethereum Classic - Grayscale 2018
Mastering Bitcoin (E-book) - Andreas M. Antonopoulos 2010
State of Crypto - Blockchain Capital 2019
The Investment Case for Bitcoin (external link) - Vaneck Securities 2020
Update On The Institutional Digital Asset Ecosystem - Digital Asset Research 2020
U.S. Economic Outlook - Gold and Bitcoin (see slides 29-34) - Goldman Sachs 2020
Cryptocurrency Crime and Terrorism
Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Regulation - Global Legal Group Ltd 2019
Challenges of Investigating Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Related Crime - Dyson, Buchanan, Bell 2017
Contemporary Cybercrime Ecosystem - Trilateral Research 2018
Cracking Mt. Gox - The Largest Bitcoin Exchange Hack - WizSec Bitcoin Security Specialists 2014
Cracking Mt. Gox - Bitcoin Transaction Malleability - Decker and Wattenhofer 2014
Cracking Mt. Gox - Evidence from Mining Bitcoin Transactions - Chen, Wu, Zheng, et al. 2019
Cracking Mt. Gox - Identifying the Arbitrageurs on Mt. Gox - Saggese and Böhme 2019
Crypto Crime Report 2019 - Chainalysis 2019
Crypto Crime Report 2020 - Chainalysis 2020
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2018 Q2 - Cipher Trace 2018
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2018 Q3 - Cipher Trace 2018
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2018 Q4 - Cipher Trace 2018
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2019 Q1 - Cipher Trace 2019
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2019 Q2 - Cipher Trace 2019
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2019 Q3 - Cipher Trace 2019
Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report 2019 Q4 - Cipher Trace 2019
Cryptocurrency: Forensic Techniques - AICPA & CIMA 2020
Crypto Market Enforcement: New Strategy and Tactics - Global Drug Policy Observatory 2018
Cryptocurrency Regulations and Enforcement in the U.S. - Western State University Law Review 2017
Crypto Rogues: U.S. State Adversaries Seeking Sanctions Resistance - Foundation for Defense of Democracies 2019
Cyber Threatscape 2017 - Accenture 2017
Cyber Threatscape 2018 - Accenture 2018
Cyber Threatscape 2019 - Accenture 2019
Data Driven Policing & Public Value - The Police Foundation 2019
Internet Crime Report - FBI 2019
Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2017 - Europol Cybercrime Center 2017
Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2018 - Europol Cybercrime Center 2018
Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2019 - Europol Cybercrime Center 2019
Laundering of Crime Proceeds Using Virtual Currencies - U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime 2014
Law Enforcement Investigative Guide - U.S. Department of Justice 2019
Legal Context and Implications for Financial Crime, Money Laundering and Tax Evasion - European Union 2018
Policing Bitcoin: Investigating, Evidencing and Prosecuting Crimes Involving Cryptocurrency - N8 Policing Research Partnership 2017
RUSI Report: Virtual Currencies and Financial Crime - UK Royal United Services Institute 2017
RUSI Report: Money Mules to Chain Hopping - UK Royal United Services Institute 2018
RUSI Report: Countering North Korean Activity in Southeast Asia - UK Royal United Services Institute 2019
RUSI Report: Preventing Criminal Abuse of Cryptocurrencies - UK Royal United Services Institute 2019
Use of Zcash Cryptocurrency for Illicit or Criminal Purposes - RAND Corporation 2020
Virtual Currencies and Money Laundering - Congressional Research Service 2019
Virtual Currencies and Terrorist Financing: Assessing the Risk and Evaluating Responses - European Parliament 2019
Terrorist Use of Cryptocurrencies - RAND Corporation 2019
Academic Papers by Faculty, PhD Candidates, and Graduate Students
An Analysis of the Cryptocurrency Industry - Ryan Farell 2015
Analyzing Hack Subnetworks in the Bitcoin Transaction Graph - Goldsmith, Grauery, and Shmaloz 2019
Are Cryptocurrencies Criminals Best Friends: Bitcoin and Darknet Markets - Janze 2017
Assessing the Evolution of Cryptocurrency - Ryan Clements 2018
Bitcoin and Ethereum Revolution - Egor Zmaznev 2017
Bitcoin Backbone Protocol - Garay and Kiayias 2019
Bitcoin Mining is Vulnerable - Eyal and Sirer 2013
Bitcoin or Ethereum - Ghosh, Haider, Kim 2016
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Techniques - Narayanan, Bonneau, Felten, Miller, Goldfeder 2016
Bitcoin: Cryptography, Economics, and the Future - Starry Peng 2013
Bitcoin: The Economic Case for a Global Virtual Currency Operating in an Unexplored Legal Framework - Jonathan B. Turpin 2014
Crypto, Blockchain and Global Governance - 2018 - Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn 2018
Cryptocurrency and State Sovereignty - Ryan Frebowitz 2018
Deleveraging Spirals and Stablecoin Attacks - Klages-Mundty & Mincaz 2019
Deep Dive into Bitcoin Mining Pools - Romiti, Judmayer, Zamyatin, Haslhofer 2018
Economics of Bitcoin: Is Bitcoin an Alternative to Fiat Currencies and Gold? - Peter Surda 2013
Emerging Political Economy of the BlockChain: Enhancing Regulatory Opportunities - Bagby, Reitter, Chwistek, 2018
Evaluating Risk and Regulation in the Digital Currency Age - Afzal, Bao, Chen, et al. 2019
From Initial Coin Offerings to Security Tokens - Michael Mendelson 2019
Future of Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies - Egill Már Hreinsson 2018
Future of Digital Money: Legal Status and Regulation of Bitcoin in Australia - Chinelle van der Westhuizen 2017
Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study - Dr. Hileman & M. Rauchs 2017
Guide to Blockchain Derivatives Markets and Systemic Risk - Ryan Surujnath 2016
How Cryptocurrencies Have Changed the Criminal Landscape - Igor Groysman 2018
Measuring the Changing Cost of Cybercrime - Anderson, Barton,Bohme, et al. 2019
Money Laundering Through Cryptocurrencies - George Forgang 2019
Regulating Bitcoin and Block Chain Derivatives - Houman B. Shadab 2014
Research Perspectives and Challenges for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies - Bonneau, Miller, Clark, et al. 2015
Understanding and Designing for Trust in Bitcoin Blockchain - Irni Eliana Khairuddin 2019
U.S. Regulation of Blockchain Currencies: A Policy Overview - Averie Brookes 2018
Taking a Bit out of Crime: Bitcoin and Cross-Border Tax Evasion - Thomas Slattery 2014
Why China had to Ban Cryptocurrency but the U.S. Did Not - Rain Xie 2019
Coin and Token White Papers
0x (ZRX) - 2017 $$$
Anchor (ANCT) stablecoin - 2020 $$$
Bancor (BNT) stablecoin - 2018 $$$
Basic Attention Token (BAT) - 2017 $$$
Bitcoin (BTC) - 2009 $$$
Bitcoin Lightning Network (N/A) - 2016 N/A
Cardano (ADA) - 2017 $$$
Celsius (CEL) - 2017 $$$
ChainLink (LINK) - 2017 $$$
Cosmos (ATOM) - 2017 $$$
Digix (DGX) - 2016 $$$
Element Zero Network (EZO) stablecoin - 2018 $$$
EOS (EOS) - 2017 $$$
Ethereum (ETH) - 2013 $$$
Gemini Dollar (GUSD) stablecoin - 2018 $$$
Golem (GNT) - 2016 $$$
Hashcash (N/A) - 2002 TBD
IOTA (MIOTA) - 2017 $$$
Libra (proposed by Facebook) stablecoin - 2020 TBD
MakerDAO (MKR) stablecoin - 2017 $$$
Monero (XMR) - 2013 $$$
NEM (XEM) - 2016 $$$
Ontology (ONT) - 2018 $$$
Paxos (PAX) stablecoin - 2018 $$$
QTUM (QTUM) stablecoin - 2018 $$$
Reserve Protocol (RSV) stablecoin - 2019 $$$
Ripple (XRP) - 2012 $$$
Stellar (XLM) - 2016 $$$
Tether (USDT) stablecoin - 2012 $$$
Tezo (XTZ) - 2014 $$$
Tron (TRX) - 2018 $$$
USDC (USDC) Centre's stablecoin - 2018 $$$
VeChain (VET) - 2018 $$$
Zcash (ZEC) - 2014 $$$
New Uploads
More research and presentations will be uploaded to the above sections...this page is updated frequently - check back at least weekly for new content.
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The appearance of the above research/projects on Coin Think Tank is not an endorsement or attestation of the accuracy, claims, investigations, or research conducted within the above reports. These reports are for historical and research purposes. Please review our Terms-of-Use statement. If you would like your project or research listed on this page, click here to submit it.
