Future Images and the Construction of Value in Bitcoin Meetups

• In Event: Economic Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Roundtable 6: Markets, Culture, and Moral economy

Abstract

Recent work on Bitcoin at the intersection between science and technology studies (STS) and economic sociology has identified various sociotechnical imaginaries that give Bitcoin value (Maurer et al. 2013; Swartz 2018; De Keere et al. 2025). But this research has not fully described the future time horizons (Brannen and Nilsen 2002), stability of future orientations (Hanson 1994), storylines toward the future (Boje 1991), contingency about the future (Boyle and Haggery 2012), and agency about the future (Costas and Grey 2014) among Bitcoin adherents. What are the dimensions of the futures that Bitcoin adherents articulate about Bitcoin? How do these projected futures map onto beliefs about the value of Bitcoin? How do these conceptions compare to those articulated in the Bitcoin media ecosystem? To address these questions, I draw on over fifty hours of participant observation and interviews with Bitcoiners at Bitcoin meetups in and around a large Midwestern city, conducted over six months. I analyze the various dimensions of Bitcoin futures, examining their implications for Bitcoiners’ perceptions of the value of Bitcoin as an economic asset.

Author

• Max Barte, Northwestern University