https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1304-2774
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ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present an ethnographic account of the quasi-religious romanticism of the crypto-community towards blockchain technologies. To do so, we explore the cultural significance of phenomena such as myth, faith, and ritual, without excluding both the realms of technological practices and techno-scientific narrative. Drawing on a comparison with the legend of King Arthur, we analyse how the legendary creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, translates contemporary anxieties resulting from the financial crisis and the centralisation of power. By analysing white papers, we further explore the persuasive narratives which convey how ethics and virtue can be encoded into software, and, finally, we describe the secular rituals that reinforce cohesion among the community – in moments which are often guided by charismatic preachers and specialists. We argue that blockchain technologies have had a symbolic impact in re-invigorating enchantment and material romanticism towards finance and technology, which has had a wider impact on the social perception and acceptance of the transition to a digital society.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 For a collection of the complete writings of Satoshi Nakamoto, see https://satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/.
3 The Byzantine Generals problem: a metaphor of two generals from two different armies who need to agree on the exact moment of when to attack, but can only communicate by sending messengers – who could be prevented from delivering the message in question.
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Notes on contributors
Sandra Faustino
Sandra Faustino is a PhD student in Economic Sociology (ISEG-IUL), has a MA in Development Studies (ISCTE-IUL) and a BA in Journalism (ESCS-IPL). She did research on blockchain-based financial technologies within the project ‘Finance Beyond Fact and Fiction: Financial Transformations in Post-2008 Europe’, in the Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology of the Lisbon School of Economics of the University of Lisbon (ISEG/UL) (2016/2019). Her main interests are framed by the fields of the social studies of finance and science and technology studies, and concern the political dimensions of technological development.
Inês Faria
Inês Faria is a researcher at the CSG-SOCIUS/ISEG, University of Lisbon. Inês has a PhD in Medical Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, focusing on reproductive health and reproductive technologies. Since 2016 she has been developing research about ‘alternative’ and mainstream financial uses of blockchain technology, she was involved in the project Finance Beyond Fact and Fiction that explored financial changes and continuities in Europe after the 2008 crisis. Currently, Inês continues working about the relations between technology and society regarding the areas of finance, but also of healthcare, respectively in European and sub-Saharan African contexts.
Rafael Marques
Rafael Marques is currently assistant professor at ISEG where he teaches undergraduate courses in Sociology and Economic and Financial Sociology, master courses in Business Ethics, Financial Ethics and Ethics of Academic Research and PhD courses in Economic Sociology. During his academic career he also taught courses in Comparative Social Policy, Political Sociology, Organizational Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Introduction to Management, Negotiation and Conflict, and Change Management. He has an MBA and a PhD in Economic Sociology. His main areas of research are Ethics, Moral Sociology, Social Theory, and Economic Sociology. He is finishing two papers on Time and Social Theory: ‘The Problem of Chronocentrism in Lay and Academic Sociology’ and ‘Uchronian Thinking in Gabriel Tarde’s novels’.