Drawing on an empirical study of cryptocurrency white papers, this paper proposes an actor-based taxonomy of cryptocurrency blockchains. First, it describes the evolution of blockchain architecture with reference to the economic services that blockchains supply. Second, it discusses the socio-technical platform of blockchains as proposed in cryptocurrency white papers. Third, it analyses the socio-economic consequences of these technically diverse blockchain platforms, by proposing a taxonomy of their digital architectures in reference to two groups of actors that maintain blockchain infrastructure: transactioners and accountants. Defining cryptocurrency as data money, and locating cryptocurrency ownership as the possession of an exclusive right to move data privately in a public or private space, the paper describes a blockchain as a digital actor-network platform that makes it possible to define and distribute these data transfer rights.
CITATION STYLE
Caliskan, K. (2020). Data money: The socio-technical infrastructure of cryptocurrency blockchains. Economy and Society, 49(4), 540–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2020.1774258
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