The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin
The still raging financial crisis of 2007–2008 has enabled the emergence of several alternative practices concerning the production, circulation and use of money. This essay explores the political economy of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Specifically, we examine the context in which this digital currency...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group
2014-06-01
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| Series: | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/606 |
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| _version_ | 1849236269509378048 |
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| author | Vasilis Kostakis Chris Giotitsas |
| author_facet | Vasilis Kostakis Chris Giotitsas |
| author_sort | Vasilis Kostakis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The still raging financial crisis of 2007–2008 has enabled the emergence of several alternative practices concerning the production, circulation and use of money. This essay explores the political economy of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Specifically, we examine the context in which this digital currency is emerging as well as its nature, dynamics, advantages, and disadvantages. We conclude that Bitcoin, a truly interesting experiment, exemplifies "distributed capitalism" and should be mostly seen as a technological innovation. Rather than providing pragmatic answers and solutions to the current views on the financial crisis, Bitcoin provides some useful and timely questions about the principles and bases of the dominant political economy.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e0f9315408f74ab4aba2439f3cf21d55 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1726-670X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-06-01 |
| publisher | Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| spelling | doaj-art-e0f9315408f74ab4aba2439f3cf21d552025-08-20T04:02:22ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X2014-06-0112210.31269/triplec.v12i2.606606The (A)Political Economy of BitcoinVasilis KostakisChris Giotitsas The still raging financial crisis of 2007–2008 has enabled the emergence of several alternative practices concerning the production, circulation and use of money. This essay explores the political economy of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Specifically, we examine the context in which this digital currency is emerging as well as its nature, dynamics, advantages, and disadvantages. We conclude that Bitcoin, a truly interesting experiment, exemplifies "distributed capitalism" and should be mostly seen as a technological innovation. Rather than providing pragmatic answers and solutions to the current views on the financial crisis, Bitcoin provides some useful and timely questions about the principles and bases of the dominant political economy. https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/606digital currenciescryptocurrencycommonsbitcoinmoneyopen source |
| spellingShingle | Vasilis Kostakis Chris Giotitsas The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique digital currencies cryptocurrency commons bitcoin money open source |
| title | The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin |
| title_full | The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin |
| title_fullStr | The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin |
| title_full_unstemmed | The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin |
| title_short | The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin |
| title_sort | a political economy of bitcoin |
| topic | digital currencies cryptocurrency commons bitcoin money open source |
| url | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/606 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vasiliskostakis theapoliticaleconomyofbitcoin AT chrisgiotitsas theapoliticaleconomyofbitcoin AT vasiliskostakis apoliticaleconomyofbitcoin AT chrisgiotitsas apoliticaleconomyofbitcoin |