Expertise

Topics:  Banking, Business Cycles, Macroeconomics, Financial Frictions, Blockchain

Industries: Financial Services, Banking

Ariel Zetlin-Jones' research focuses on macroeconomics, business cycles, financial frictions and banking. He examines what makes financial markets work and how to design optimal regulations for financial markets and institutions.

Media Experience

Leaked documents that Sam Bankman-Fried used to fundraise in 2021 and 2022 show why VCs may have ignored due diligence and scrambled to invest nearly $2 billion  — Fortune
“The exchange lent billions, including most of its FTT pile, to its sister firm Alameda for trading capital at first, and eventually to cover massive losses,” said Cory Klippsten, founder and CEO of Swan Bitcoin, a financial services company. “It seems like FTX lent customer deposits to Alameda Research using FTT tokens as collateral. So when public perception of the value of the tokens collapsed, the value of the loan and collateral also collapsed,” added Ariel Zetlin-Jones, economist at Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.

FTX made a cryptocurrency that brought in millions. Then it brought down the company  — NPR
The FTX Token was part of an elaborate, rewards-based marketing scheme to attract buyers. "I think of it like airline miles," says Ariel Zetlin-Jones, who teaches economics at Carnegie Mellon University. "Like loyalty points for using the exchange."

Cryptocurrency mining under proposed US policy changes  — Coin Telegraph
The regulatory scrutiny of blockchains and cryptocurrencies is increasing. From the cryptocurrency mining ban in China to President Joe Biden’s Working Group on Financial Markets, convened by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the economic activities that support and are enabled by blockchains have become a significant concern for policymakers. Most recently, a provision in the proposed 2021 infrastructure bill amends the definition of a broker to expressly include “any person who [...] is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.”

The financialization of cryptocurrencies  — IBM Supply Chain and Blockchain Blog
What does it mean to “own a Bitcoin?” It means there is a recorded transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain where someone sent one bitcoin to your public key address and that you (and you alone) know the address’s private key. Even if that terse description explains things, it does not help with the logistic details of how you go about doing this. It is complicated. But it is also complicated to physically buy and hold a bar of gold or a barrel of oil. Google it. You could make it happen, but it is work.

What is a corporate blockchain?  — IBM Supply Chain and Blockchain Blog
We have this image in our head of an overworked Chief Technology Officer summoned to the boss’s office and told to produce a corporate blockchain but without all that dodgy cryptocurrency. We imagine this CTO is puzzled. We certainly are. What is a corporate blockchain?