Assessment of Bachelor Thesis – Opponent
Study programme:International Economic Relations Field of study:International Trade
Academic year:2020/2021
Bachelor Thesis Topic:Why do firms stop accepting cryptocurrencies Author’s name:Jan Křemenák
Ac. Consultant’s Name:Mgr. Ing. Jakub Jedlinský, Ph.D.
Opponent:Ing. Kareem Issam Abdallah
Criterion Mark
(1–4)
1. Overall objective achievement 1
2. Logical structure 1
3. Using of literature, citations 1
4. Adequacy of methods used 1
5. Depth of analysis 1
6. Self-reliance of author 1
7. Formal requirements: text, graphs, tables 2
8. Language and stylistics 1
Comments and Questions:
The bachelor thesis of the student Jan Křemenák on the topic ”Why do firms stop accepting
cryptocurrencies” is a very good thesis and the author’s interest in the topic is evident from the work.
The work is organized into three chapters, where the first two chapters can be together considered as setting a background for the main and final chapter. Chapter one is primarily focused on providing an understanding of Bitcoin as a means of payment. Worth noting is the author’s ability to focus solely on this specific function, which in turn allows the author to tackle the research question at hand. Also, the
structure of the chapter (especially regarding the introduction and providing general information on historical development and then focusing on explaining how Bitcoin functions etc.) and the work as a whole is very fluid and it is easy to track the logic behind it.
The second chapter illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment by firms. The chapter serves as a bridge to the last chapter and helps the reader understand the underlying realities that firms base their decisions on. The third and last chapter can be considered as the practical part of the thesis and presents reasons and arguments (backed by evidence and personal research questionnaire) on why firms stop accepting cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. The chapter thus fulfils the main research question of the whole thesis.
The author works with a wide variety of external sources and demonstrates good analytical skills (the author for example goes into great detail about different cases of companies accepting Bitcoin for
payments). Appreciated is also the effort to point out the relationship between Bitcoin’s price, mainstream adoption, and firms’ views on accepting Bitcoin, which can be seen when the author states that “the highest influx of new cryptocurrency-accepting venues takes place whenever there is a rapid rise in prices”
on page 13. This means that even though firms state that the reason for discontinuing BTC payments are transaction fees and time, their decision is mostly related to BTC’s price and adoption, where firms just mostly want to join the Bitcoin bandwagon. This is also in line with the author’s statement, that “very few of them selected any other options related to the advantages of cryptocurrency technology, showing that [the firms accepting Bitcoin] had likely just wanted to appear progressive as a sort of marketing move rather than actually benefit from the technology”.
Overall, the author demonstrated his capacity to address the topic at hand appropriately and it can be seen from the thesis that the author put a great effort into it. The thesis is logical and understandable, with
a great usage of the English language. For all of the reasons mentioned above I recommend the author for his thesis defence with the gradeexcellent.
Questions for defence:
1) What are in your opinion the future prospects for Bitcoin as a means of payment? Will it ever manage to outperform Visa or Mastercard in its efficiency? What would be the necessary measures for Bitcoin to be able to achieve that goal (other than lightning network mentioned in the thesis)?
2) Can you think of any other cryptocurrencies that could outperform Bitcoin as a means of payment?
Why?
Conclusion: The Bachelor Thesis is recommended for the defence.
Suggested Grade: 1
Date: 31/08/2021 Ing. Kareem Issam Abdallah
Opponent
