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The objective of this study is to investigate the nexus between financial development (FD) in economic growth (GROWTH) in developing countries. The study uses panel data from 138 developing countries during the period 1980-2018. The relationship between financial development and economic growth is investigated using four explanatory variables that are commonly used to measure the level of financial development and several other control variables, including a dummy variable representing the financial and banking crises. The sample of 138 developing countries is also classified into six geographic regions. We have carried out panel unit-root tests and panel cointegration tests before estimating the specified models using both Panel Least Squares (Panel LS) and Panel Fully Modified Least Squares (FMOLS) methods. In addition, panel Granger causality tests have been conducted to identify the direction of causality between FD and GROWTH for each of the regions. The results of the study provide evidence of a direct relationship between FD and GROWTH in developing countries. Furthermore, there is evidence of bi-directional causality running from FD to GROWTH and from GROWTH to FD in samples of Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, and all countries, but not in East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationships between Bitcoin and some major cryptocurrencies to better understand the effects of different market factors on their price formation. Our results show that Bitcoin's price is driven by both transactional demand, such as supply of Bitcoin or size of the Bitcoin economy, and speculative demand, namely media attention or price of another cryptocurrency. Bitcoin's dominant player role may be jeopardized in the decentralized payment system market. In addition, since late December 2017, speculation for Bitcoin has been decreasing. This can open an opportunity for Bitcoin's transactional demand to grow faster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]