Digital Assets
Innovation, Risks, and Regulation
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 16. October 2026
Book
Hardback
250 pages
978-1-041-32120-0 (ISBN)
Description
Digital assets are fundamentally transforming the global financial system, yet their mechanics and implications remain poorly understood, even among financial professionals. This book offers the first comprehensive and rigorous exploration of the digital assets landscape.
The authors lay the technical foundations of digital assets by examining how blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum function, how smart contracts operate, and how cross-chain mechanisms connect separate blockchains. The book categorizes major digital asset classes, including digital currencies, tokenized securities, and cryptoassets. It investigates the institutional architecture underpinning the digital asset market, from wallets to exchanges like Coinbase. Additionally, it delves into multiple layers of the digital asset ecosystem, encompassing DeFi protocols (e.g., automated market makers, decentralized lending), financial products (ETPs, derivatives), and distinctive market activities, such as economic attacks and corporate Bitcoin treasury strategies. The book also provides a critical analysis of the systemic risks associated with the digital asset market and the corresponding regulatory responses.
The book is an essential reference for financial professionals, regulators, researchers, and graduate students seeking to understand the digital asset market.
The authors lay the technical foundations of digital assets by examining how blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum function, how smart contracts operate, and how cross-chain mechanisms connect separate blockchains. The book categorizes major digital asset classes, including digital currencies, tokenized securities, and cryptoassets. It investigates the institutional architecture underpinning the digital asset market, from wallets to exchanges like Coinbase. Additionally, it delves into multiple layers of the digital asset ecosystem, encompassing DeFi protocols (e.g., automated market makers, decentralized lending), financial products (ETPs, derivatives), and distinctive market activities, such as economic attacks and corporate Bitcoin treasury strategies. The book also provides a critical analysis of the systemic risks associated with the digital asset market and the corresponding regulatory responses.
The book is an essential reference for financial professionals, regulators, researchers, and graduate students seeking to understand the digital asset market.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Postgraduate and Professional Reference
Illustrations
46 s/w Abbildungen, 46 s/w Zeichnungen, 25 s/w Tabellen
25 Tables, black and white; 46 Line drawings, black and white; 46 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-041-32120-0 (9781041321200)
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
Persons
Chuanwei Zou is President of Jiangsu Jinke Research Institute on Digital and Technology Finance, Joint Secretary-General of Jiangsu Financial Society, and Honorary Head of Research at Bank of Jiangsu. His research interests cover digital finance, banking, and financial regulation.
Chen Cui is Associate Partner at HashKey RWA. Her research covers technology innovation and business models, the economic models and governance mechanisms of application layer blockchain protocols, and global developments in digital asset regulation.
Yixin Cao is an independent researcher in blockchain systems and crypto market structure. With a Ph.D. in Physics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, she combines data science and economics to study DeFi, transaction behavior, and the evolving logic of decentralized systems.
Puyu Wang is a Partner at HashKey RWA. His research and professional focus center on Web3 token economics design and the tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs). He specializes in navigating legal frameworks, evaluating tokenization protocols, and unlocking the potential of RWAs as collateral within DeFi ecosystems.
Yaqiang Wang is a research fellow at Jiangsu Jinke Research Institute on Digital and Technology Finance. His research interest focuses on the development trajectory of frontier technologies, including AI and Blockchain, and relevant governance challenges and policy solutions.
Chen Cui is Associate Partner at HashKey RWA. Her research covers technology innovation and business models, the economic models and governance mechanisms of application layer blockchain protocols, and global developments in digital asset regulation.
Yixin Cao is an independent researcher in blockchain systems and crypto market structure. With a Ph.D. in Physics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, she combines data science and economics to study DeFi, transaction behavior, and the evolving logic of decentralized systems.
Puyu Wang is a Partner at HashKey RWA. His research and professional focus center on Web3 token economics design and the tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs). He specializes in navigating legal frameworks, evaluating tokenization protocols, and unlocking the potential of RWAs as collateral within DeFi ecosystems.
Yaqiang Wang is a research fellow at Jiangsu Jinke Research Institute on Digital and Technology Finance. His research interest focuses on the development trajectory of frontier technologies, including AI and Blockchain, and relevant governance challenges and policy solutions.
Content
PART I: BLOCKCHAIN AS THE FOUNDATION OF DIGITAL ASSET 1: Introduction to Representative Blockchains 2: The Token Paradigm of Blockchains 3: Blockchains' Economic Models and Governance Mechanism 4: The Blockchain Impossible Trinity and Its Implications 5: Oracles: The Mechanism to Write Information into Blockchain 6: Cross-chain: The Expansion Mechanism from Chain to Network PART II: MAJOR TYPES OF DIGITAL ASSETS 7: Tokenization in Theory and in Practice 8: Digital Currencies 9: Tokenized Securities: Case Studies of Daml and Liberty 10: Cryptoassets 11: Digital Renminbi: From 1.0 to 2.0 PART III: PARTICIPANTS IN THE DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS 12: Custodial Wallets and Custodians 13: Digital Asset Exchanges: A Case Study of Coinbase 14: Information Intermediaries in Digital Assets PART IV: CONTRACTUAL ARRANGEMENTS IN DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS 15: Overview of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) 16: Decentralized Lending 17: Automated Market Makers (AMMs) PART V: PRODUCTS IN DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS 18: Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) for Digital Assets 19: Digital Asset Futures and Options PART VI: ACTIVITIES IN DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS 20: Economic Attacks in the DeFi Ecosystem 21: Liquidity Mining and Staking 22: The Rise and Mechanics of the Digital Asset Treasury Model PART VII: RISKS IN DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS 23: Systemic Fragility of the Cryptoasset Market 24: The Relationship between the Cryptoassets and Mainstream Financial Markets PART VIII: REGULATION OF DIGITAL ASSET MARKETS 25: FATF Requirements on AML and CFT for Virtual Assets 26: The Trump Administration's Digital-Asset Policy 27: The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) 28: Risks and Regulation of Stablecoins