Abstract Cryptocurrency innovations such as Bitcoin raise the question of the possible transformation of the monetary regime and how it would operate. The blockchain technology underlying Bitcoin is said to be “trustless” because it has been designed to avoid a “trusted third party.” Drawing on the institutionalist approach of Aglietta and Orléan emphasizing the importance of trust in money and the monetary system, we show that Bitcoin is characterized by: (1) methodical trust through the existence of an objective proof of payment; (2) hierarchical trust due to the concentration in the mining process; and (3) ethical trust organized around the rejection of banks and the state, although the early ethical commitment is unstable. In other words, trust is now materialized in a form of technical institution, the blockchain. However, Bitcoin cannot be used as everyday money as it would bring about a deflationist and dysfunctional monetary regime, as well as high transaction costs. Some other cryptocurrencies could lead to interesting transformations of the monetary regime if they were to provide new forms of sovereignty, avoid a design based on a fixed monetary supply, or if central banks decided to back them.

中文翻译：

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加密货币和区块链：新货币体制的机遇与局限

摘要 比特币等加密货币创新提出了货币制度可能发生的转变及其运作方式的问题。比特币底层的区块链技术被认为是“去信任的”，因为它旨在避免“受信任的第三方”。借鉴 Aglietta 和 Orléan 的制度主义方法，强调对货币和货币体系的信任的重要性，我们表明比特币的特点是：（1）通过存在客观的支付证明而有条不紊的信任；(2) 由于挖矿过程中的集中导致的等级信任；(3) 围绕拒绝银行和国家组织的道德信任，尽管早期的道德承诺是不稳定的。换句话说，信任现在以一种技术机构的形式具体化，即区块链。然而，比特币不能用作日常货币，因为它会导致通货紧缩和功能失调的货币制度，以及高昂的交易成本。如果其他一些加密货币提供新形式的主权，避免基于固定货币供应的设计，或者中央银行决定支持它们，它们可能会导致货币制度的有趣转变。