Breaking the Bank

MIT’s Sandy Pentland writes about the Potential of Cryptocurrencies

MIT’s Alex “Sandy” Pentland and Alexander Lipton contributed to a cover article for Scientific American this month on The Future of Money. Their article, Breaking the Bank, discussed how new financial networks could stop the concentration of wealth and increase participation in the economy — but only if used with care.

Sandy Pentland

Among the highlights:

• New technologies such as digital currencies are making it possible to simulate every trade and transaction…People could exchange directly with one another instead of relying on banks.
• The potential for sweeping change is real, but there are many uncertainties. ..They could just as easily lead to extreme levels of centralized control.

Read the full article here.