Disrupting Business as Usual: Blockchain Startups in the International Remittance Market

This article analyzes the research on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and the alternate banking system, led by giants like Bitcoin and Ethereum, and its potential utility for the millions of migrants living in working around the globe, who send nearly half a trillion dollars through various formal and informal channels to family and friends in their home countries. While research on migrant remittances is well established and has been examined from many different lenses, including economic, political, financial, sociological and entrepreneurial, there are few studies to date that examine how the growing crypto-blockchain channel can impact remittance flows, as a lower cost alternative to MoneyGram and Western Union, which have high transaction costs, and also considering that many migrants do not have formal bank accounts, eliminating formal bank transfers, and also that many migrants hold a vulnerable legal status, and may avoid formal money transfer channels. This article is exploratory in nature and identifies the work that has been done to date on this topic, and identifies potential future research in the area.