
Decentralised Finance
Critical Perspectives
Loic Sauce(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 18. June 2025
Book
Hardback
170 pages
978-1-032-49844-7 (ISBN)
Description
Since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009, cryptoassets and decentralised finance (DeFi) have become a multi-trillion-dollar industry, with a growing number of users, entrepreneurs, investment funds and institutional investors all over the world. This has led to understandably high levels of attention from scholars, the media, and policymakers, but much of the writing on decentralised finance is polarised or polemical.
In contrast, this book provides a balanced, scholarly and sober assessment of broad questions about the very existence and purposes of decentralised finance. Drawing largely on the Austrian school of economics, particularly the ideas of Hayek and Lachmann, the book explores the stated aims of proponents of decentralised finance, particularly the goals of having decentralised governance and financial inclusion in an anonymous environment with low entry and exit barriers. Prioritising the theoretical and political aspects of decentralised finance over the financial or technological, the book considers whether these aims are realistic and whether decentralised finance can complement or substitute traditional financial mechanisms ('TradFi').
This book will be of valuable reading for economists, political scientists and policymakers, who are engaging with these key issues around cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance.
In contrast, this book provides a balanced, scholarly and sober assessment of broad questions about the very existence and purposes of decentralised finance. Drawing largely on the Austrian school of economics, particularly the ideas of Hayek and Lachmann, the book explores the stated aims of proponents of decentralised finance, particularly the goals of having decentralised governance and financial inclusion in an anonymous environment with low entry and exit barriers. Prioritising the theoretical and political aspects of decentralised finance over the financial or technological, the book considers whether these aims are realistic and whether decentralised finance can complement or substitute traditional financial mechanisms ('TradFi').
This book will be of valuable reading for economists, political scientists and policymakers, who are engaging with these key issues around cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Illustrations
9 s/w Abbildungen, 2 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 7 s/w Zeichnungen, 2 s/w Tabellen
2 Tables, black and white; 7 Line drawings, black and white; 2 Halftones, black and white; 9 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
438 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-49844-7 (9781032498447)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download

E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Person
Loic Sauce is an Associate Professor of Economics at ISTEC Business School in Paris. After obtaining his PhD in economics in 2010 from Nice Sophia-Antipolis University, he did his postdoctoral studies at New York University. He first heard about Bitcoin back in 2012. Since then, he has been fascinated with the innovativeness and vision of the crypto-ecosystem and decentralised finance that provide innovative financial services and reshape how individuals and organisations communicate, exchange, interact, and make collective decisions in the digital world. His current research focuses on decentralised finance, financial innovation, Austrian economics, and the history of economic thought.
Content
General Introduction Part I: Bitcoin, a high-tech Hayekian dream? Introduction to Part I 1. Price stability and the non-neutrality of money 2. The bitter joke of the Denationalisation of Money 3. Is Bitcoin Hayekian ? Conclusion to Part I Part II: What can DeFi do and cannot do? Introduction to Part II 4.The ecosystem of decentralised finance 5. Risk management in decentralised finance 6. The DeFi trilemma, lazy pawnbrokers, and beyond 7. Is DeFi a dead-end? Conclusion to Part II General Conclusion Bibliography