#gmfrens everyone!
Let me suspend for a while my supposed-to-be second article on The Way to Financial Freedom Part 2 and give way to crypto and economics-related content. I decided to do it this way to submit an entry either to the Economics Writer Quest or in the Crypto Writer Quest or to which is more suitable as part of the Zealy campaign. To achieve this, I revisited the articles I published in June of 2022 about the Eurodollar market. In this post, I want to refresh myself on the insights I gleaned from the first chapter of the book, Eurodollars and International Banking, edited by Paolo Savona and George Sutija. Moreover, after giving an overview, I also intend to reintroduce some lessons relevant to the crypto space.
To accomplish the above goal, let me share first what 
At the outset, what I found fascinating is that I received a confirmation from the so-called authority figures in international banking that indeed the operation of Eurocurrencies is “outside the jurisdictions of national governments.” This is an insight that I never stumbled upon reading books on economics, of course except the current one under study.
Another startling discovery is the admission that the Eurodollar market is not a separate “banking system,” but an extension of the banking systems of major countries. Hence, the name “international banking” and “offshore banking” have been used to describe this market.
As such, the Eurodollar market plays a significant role in international finance due to the financial innovations it created and its impact “on domestic banking systems, on domestic monetary policies, . . . on inflation, interest rates and the distribution of credit” (p. 43).
Now, how did the Eurodollar market originate?
The birth of the Eurodollar market was associated with a certain “Dregasovitch” (p. 27) and its earlier names were diverse such as “Embark dollars,” “Continental dollars,” or simply “foreign market dollars” (ibid.). The first transaction happened in 1957 when Moscow Narodny Bank issued an $800,000 loan through a London commercial bank (ibid.). As such, in that year, “a new and original, international money market in short-term dollars and other currencies emerged in London” (p. 28).
A few of the unique features of the Eurodollar market include interbank huge transactions, basically unregulated, and “receives funds from everywhere to make loans to everywhere” (p.32). The clients involved in the market are commercial banks, central banks, transnational corporations, and some very wealthy individuals. Reserve requirements are not strictly implemented, which logically results in the expansion of loans. Transactions are secret and taxes are lax.
For Rene P. Higonnet, the presenter of the first paper, the above qualities spell huge problems. He identified the Eurodollar market as primarily responsible for the existing crisis in international finance due to the absence of accurate information, easing of strict banking practices, impulsive and unsound banking policies, and evasion of responsibility on the part of central banks.
To address the problems caused by the Eurodollar system, the proposal is to come up with a stricter form of regulation and supervision of Euro banks. Such a proposal entails better accounting practices, regulation of foreign lending, and supervision of all offshore banking centers. The responsibility to implement such a proposal will fall into the hands of an international committee of wise men selected from central bankers, commercial bankers, and economists (p. 43).
And so that’s the overview of the article I published in June of 2022.
Let us now turn to the lessons we can learn based on the foregoing information that is relevant to the crypto space, and I just want to mention three:
First, we learn from reading such a brief background of the Eurodollar market that it is indeed outside of national jurisdiction and unregulated. Cryptocurrency is simply following such a path. The identified characteristics are shared by both the Eurodollar market and cryptocurrency.
Currently, we now see nations that are pro-crypto and nations that are anti-crypto. The main issue is regulation.
As the record shows, national governments failed in implementing this task to regulate the Eurodollar market for 65 years. Will they be successful this time in regulating cryptocurrency? What do you think?
As far as authorities on international finance are concerned, what we know is that the pro-regulation group is in the minority, at least as far as the Eurodollar market is concerned.
The second insight has something to do with the importance of the Eurodollar market in international finance. Many of the features found in the Eurodollar market can also be seen in cryptocurrency. In the current status of the latter, we admit that in terms of size, the crypto market is still very small compared to other financial markets. Nevertheless, in the area of innovation and distribution, I think cryptocurrency deserves credit. As to its long-term influence on both national and international banking, monetary policies, and inflation, we still have to wait and see.
Last but not least is the difference and resemblance between the two regarding stability and volatility respecting fiat currency. Even advocates of cryptocurrency are divided concerning this issue. Some think that the explosive growth happening in cryptocurrency is a threat to destabilizing the world of legacy finance. Others opine that such growth is insignificant due to the gigantic size of traditional finance. From my perspective, I see it as a threat and that’s why the regulation voice is getting louder but I firmly believe that from a long-term standpoint, cryptocurrency will introduce abundance into the global economy. The only difference is that it will no longer be exclusionary just as what we have right now.