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文献信息：

文献标题：INTERNET FINANCE: DIGITAL CURRENCIES AND ALTERNATIVE FINANCE LIBERATING THE CAPITAL MARKETS（互联网金融：数字货币和替代金融解放资本市场）

国外作者：Kim Wales

文献出处：《Journal of Governance and Regulation》, 2015,4(1):190-201 字数统计：英文2505单词，13427字符；中文4405汉字

外文文献：

INTERNET FINANCE:

DIGITAL CURRENCIES AND ALTERNATIVE FINANCE

LIBERATING THE CAPITAL MARKETS

AbstractThis article discusses how the sudden shift in policy reform and innovation has the potential to liberate the financial markets. The economic potential of internet finance is beginning to take hold across the capital markets as industries like Peer–to–Peer Lending, Equity and Debt based Crowdfunding and virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies which are types of digital currency are quickly transforming the way businesses are being financed. From borrowing and lending, buying and selling securities, to conducting wire transfers internationally, these innovations are creating a new class and generation of investors will source investments opportunities. Helping institutions and governments assess risks and manage performance in order to determine where to deploy capital; and showing signs of lessening the inequality gap. Following the neolithic agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution, this new revolution will enable more people to access financial services in less traditional ways, especially the unbanked world with its huge potential. These new financial opportunities, such as peer – to - peer (P2P) lending, will be discussed and examined, and we will stress how they can allow people to bypass

current barriers in the global economy. We conclude by arguing that all these developments, energized by the efforts of innovators and entrepreneurs, have the potential to radically transform the world in which we live, while promoting the core values of industrialized societies including democracy, capital formation, sustainability, and equality without solely relying on tax increases.

Key Words: Internet Finance, Digital Currencies, Capital Markets, Alternative Finance

Introduction

The way we do business is being revolutionized. There is decreasing trust of traditional banks, mainly due to the aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis and the string of scandals that has affected banks reputation since then, including the LIBOR interest rate rigging scandal, money laundering, high risk lending and tax evasion. As access to traditional funding becomes more elusive and as more and more people join the ranks of the “unbanked,” it is clear that new ways of creating business, job and capital, in a more equitable way must be found. And indeed, an economic revolution is underway, which is radically transforming the financial ecosystem, via emerging technologies, changing legislation, and alternative funding mechanisms.

Barriers in the Global Economy

Kendall and Voorhies (2014) note that in some countries, “the most important buffers against crippling financial setbacks are financial tools such as personal savings, insurance, credit, or cash transfers from family and friends. Yet these are rarely available because most of the world?s poor lack access to even the most basic banking services.” In addition, Webber (2014) notes that the World Bank calculatesthat about 75% “of the world?s poor is unbanked,” amounting to roughly 2.5 billion people who are unable to access any banking services. These unbanked people are often reliant on “a patchwork of informal and often precarious arrangementsto manage their financial lives.”

However, “technology and new business models are beginning to shape different

types of business finance and funding” available across the globe [Vistage(2013)], especially in developing countries. For instance, 75% of Kenyans now have mobile banking services, while in Brazil basic banking transactions are now available at local shops [Webber (2014)].

But while the ?unbanked? are increasingly being served in developing countries, Webber (2014) notes that inclusion in traditional banking services is becoming more problematic in the EU and US: The Alliance for Financial Inclusion, a global network of policymakers, reported that there are “58 million people in the EU without bank access and another 92 million are ?underserved? – having access, say, to just one bank while in the US, nearly 10 million households are believed to be outside of the formal banking system.”

Increasingly, the wealthy are being relied upon to redirect investment dollars towardemerging growth companies through different types of incentives and new funding models, however understanding the new range of financial services and means of access will be ?challenging” but important for all involved [Vistage(2013)]. In particular, understanding the important differences between the huge range of finance and funding options available – from bank lending to crowd-sourced funding to microfinance to private equity and venture capital – is a challenge, but will be fundamental for business leaders, emerging growth companies and investors as they consider their place in the economic equation. At the same time, as I have written in an earlier paper, it is also important that average working class individuals are also given the chance to take advantage of these new investment and financing opportunities [Wales(2014)].

Maney (2013) says that the world is undergoing a third revolution (following on from the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution), and this is a very apt description. Humankind?s collective knowledge is being aggregated and disseminated and is increasingly allowing complete access to the surge of universal information and we all have the abilityto connect with almost everyone on the planet [Maney(2013)]. Democratization of the capital markets with financial and investment products such as securities based crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending (P2P), Bitcoin