The value of crypto? Sociotechnical imaginaries on cryptocurrency in YouTube content
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4894087 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kobe De Keere (0000-0002-1164-7227, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author), Martin Trans (University of Amsterdam), Martin Broholt Trans (0000-0002-1774-9128, University of Amsterdam), Milan (0000-0002-9314-2889, University of Amsterdam), Stefania Milan |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 759-785 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Socio-Economic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1475-1461 • E-ISSN: 1475-147X |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ser/mwae081 |
| OpenAlex | W4406034071 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 35 |
In less than two decades, cryptocurrency has transformed from being an object of interest for an obscure online community to becoming a digital asset of global appeal. By acknowledging the importance of fictional expectations in the creation of economic value, this study addresses the question: How is the value of crypto imagined? Through quantitative and qualitative coding of 1921 YouTube video transcripts, combined with Exploratory Factor Analysis, this article maps out the sociotechnical imaginaries that attribute value to crypto, that are being disseminated on YouTube. This study identifies four distinct imaginaries that project a value on cryptocurrency: investment, utility, digital metallism, and infrastructural mutualism imaginary. This explorative analysis sheds light on the potential value consumers attribute to cryptocurrencies while opening new research avenues toward a better understanding of the market and its mediation by platform algorithms as potential market devices
Advertising · Business · Computer security · Cryptocurrency · Economics · Knowledge management · Sociology · Sociotechnical system · Value (mathematics) · Blockchain Technology Applications and Security · Computer Science · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Digital Marketing and Social Media
Abductive Analysis
YouTube channels, uploads and views
Researching YouTube
The Relevance of Algorithms
Social Media Use for Health Purposes
How Travel Vlogs on YouTube Influence Consumer Behavior
Ownership, uses and perceptions of cryptocurrency
Social media engagement
Dreamscapes of Modernity
Modern Social Imaginaries
What was Bitcoin, what will it be? The techno-economic imaginaries of a new money technology
Do libertarians dream of electric coins? The material embeddedness of Bitcoin
Access shrugged
Imagined Futures
Mine the gap
The inevitable sociality of money
How to become a judgment device
Follow the algorithm
An Introduction to Market Devices
Markets as Definitional Practices
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
Introduction
Making a Living in the Creator Economy
The Philosophy of Bitcoin and the Question of Money
The Social Life of Bitcoin
Where Do Markets Come From
A crypto way out
The dynamic imaginaries of the Ethereum project
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |