| dc.description.abstract | We employ Supremum Augmented Dickey-Fuller (SADF), the General Supremum Augmented
Dickey-Fuller (GSADF) tests and a Log Periodic Power Law (LPPL) test to Cryptocurrency
Index (CRIX) price data to evaluate cryptocurrencies as a financial bubble. The
tests display bubble tendencies during 2017 and into 2018. Current research within bubble
analysis has not been successfully implemented for cryptocurrency price data. Our hybridapproach
with interviews supplementing the quantitative analysis reflects better the factors
that determine whether or not cryptocurrencies can be labeled a bubble. The greatest challenge
to determining if cryptocurrencies are in a bubble relates to the fundamental value
and the, currently, inadequate estimation method for fundamental value. After assessing
cryptocurrencies as money, we see that this analysis does not align cryptocurrencies as a
large scale payment system. The definition and characteristics of money are complementary,
and it is likely that cryptocurrencies can satisfy these terms better in the future and make
up a bigger part of the financial world in the long term. However, anonymity and limited
acceptability make cryptocurrencies more likely to function as a niche payment system in
the near future. Furthermore, while some cryptocurrencies are superior to fiat money with
respect to aspects such as transaction speed and cost, other areas seem underdeveloped. We
present arguments for and against a bubble and while the arguments against a bubble are
stronger and easier to defend, the arguments for a bubble prevents such a conclusion. The
future development of cryptocurrencies is uncertain, resulting in predictions being proportionally
inaccurate. Despite, we present our conclusion as an addition to the debate regarding
cryptocurrencies being in a bubble or not. | nb_NO |
