Bitcoin Valley _ 15-11-2018

On Bitcoin usage, Techno-optimism and Partecipation.
An anthropological perspective on Rovereto's Bitcoin Valley users

Are there any links between the influence of the crypto-anarchy, the monetary system, the techno-optimism with the development of the Bitcoin Valley of Rovereto?

These are some of the questions and premises from which the thesis project of GDStarita, graduate of the University of Utrecht, originates, that during 2018 conducted an anthropological study on the use of Bitcoin, with particular reference to the experience of Bitcoin Valley of Rovereto.

We publish the full thesis of G.D. Starita "On Bitcoin Usage, Techno-Optimism and Participation" with the hope to find in this innovative contribution personal ideas of interest and tastes of curiosity about the activity that inbitcoin and Comproeuro from more than two years develop in the territory and with the citizenship of the Trentino Bitcoin Valley.

Abstract: "The present research engages with theoretical notions related to anarchy, currency systems and the intersubjectivity of money to develop a critical analysis of the individual attitudes and motivations relevant to the usage of Bitcoin for what concerns users in Rovereto, Italy. Through the use of ethnography, this research explores the reasons behind the spread of use of Bitcoin in the area of Rovereto and how those reasons may be connected to the way the Bitcoin network was designed and the socio-political set of values of its creators. New theoretical paradigms and a re-interpretation of old theoretical notions is proposed, in order to overcome the lack of literature and fieldwork material related to the subject of cryptocurrency users, for what concerns anthropological research. General reflections on the impact of new technologies such as cryptocurrencies on individuals are also produced, in connection with the material collected on the field in Rovereto".

On Bitcoin usage, Techno-optimism and Partecipation (502.7 KB)