Blockchain Babel: The Crypto Craze and the Challenge to Business

by Igor Pejic

Overview

WINNER: Independent Press Award 2020 - Technology Category

Blockchain is the technology behind bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. According to Santander, it could save financial institutions $15-20bn a year from 2022 onward. Most experts see an unprecedented potential, but many banks, payment processors and credit card companies fret that bitcoin entrepreneurs could cast a pall over their core business. Whatever the position of blockchain, many voices are shouting from different angles, creating a cacophony of confusion including tech-evangelists, anarcho-libertarians and industry experts. But while everybody in IT and banking seems to have an opinion on the blockchain, there is little systematic research, no strategic analysis. Blockchain Babel is the ultimate guide to the most disruptive technology to have entered the finance industry in recent years.

Blockchain Babel looks at blockchain alongside innovation diffusion, competitive dynamics and management strategy. Shortlisted as one of the three best business book proposals by McKinsey and the Financial Times for the Bracken Bower Prize in 2016, this is a must-read for business leaders and aspiring leaders wanting to grasp blockchain and put it into context and understand the practical implications it may have.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780749484163
Publisher:	Kogan Page, Ltd.
Publication date:	03/26/2019
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Igor Pejic is the Head of Marketing at BNP Paribas PF AT, part of Europe's largest banking group. A former business journalist, the author regularly comments on payments, transactions and the blockchain in the media. He was voted by McKinsey and The Financial Times as one of three finalists in the Bracken Bower Prize with his work on blockchain in 2016, which has resulted in this book.

Table of Contents

** Chapter - 00: Introduction; ** Chapter - 01: Blockchain, bitcoin and distributed ledgers – Disentangling the hype; ** Chapter - 02: A libertarian fantasy in the most regulated of industries; ** Chapter - 03: The dreaded Kodak moment that will never happen – Why banking is different; ** Chapter - 04: Data behemoths are coming; ** Chapter - 05: Hunting for the new competitive advantage; ** Chapter - 06: Business-model evolution – The arrival of the IT paradigm; ** Chapter - 07: An unparalleled promise… for some

Editorial Reviews

"The number of publications on blockchain technology coming out every day can be measured in meters of bookshelves right now. All the more remarkable is Igor Peijc's book, as it is highly informative, full of substance and - engaging to read at the same time despite the subject's complexity. Whether you want to get a good overview or dig in deep into the matter - you can get both out of this book. After reading Blockchain will no longer be a myth to you."

Dean WU Executive Academy Barbara Stöttinger

"Igor Pejic's excellent book - Blockchain Babel - provides valuable insights into how the blockchain technology will transform the financial industry."

Spiros Margaris

"The number of publications on blockchain technology coming out every day can be measured in meters of bookshelves right now. All the more remarkable is Igor Peijc's book, as it is highly informative, full of substance and - engaging to read at the same time despite the subject's complexity. Whether you want to get a good overview or dig in deep into the matter - you can get both out of this book. After reading Blockchain will no longer be a myth to you."

Dean WU Executive Academy Barbara Stöttinger

"In his riveting, yet analytic account of blockchain Igor Pejic is shaping a new understanding of the technology that will transform banking and business. Blockchain Babel is a powerful compass to navigate the vast seas of crypto-literature."

FinFluencer Jürgen Kob

"The blockchain revolution is ushering in a new internet of value that will transform every industry. In Blockchain Babel, Pejic provides a lucid breakdown of blockchain's potential to serve as the foundation of a new digital economy."

Alex Tapscott

"Blockchain Babel separates the signal from the noise. This book is the new bible for professionals who want to move from intention to implementation. Everyone who works in banking, wealth management or finance should not only read this book but buy copies for their colleagues to help enlighten them to the realities of blockchain."

Founder and CEO Rudin Group April Rudin

"Blockchain Babel is well titled alluding to a tower connecting earth to heaven and frustrated through a confusion of voices. Pejic's book helps attenuate that confusion through a comprehensive assessment of the complex path of how blockchain technology's promise vs reality is developing in practice."

Keith Bear

"In his riveting, yet analytic account of blockchain Igor Pejic is shaping a new understanding of the technology that will transform banking and business. Blockchain Babel is a powerful compass to navigate the vast seas of crypto-literature."

FinFluencer Jürgen Kob