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Cited by 465Semiotics and Representation StudiesBlockchain Technology Applications and SecurityCultural Studies and Postmodernism

“When perhaps the real problem is money itself!”: the practical materiality of Bitcoin

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Maurer, Bill, Nelms, Taylor C., Swartz, Lana·2013·Social Semiotics
DOI 10.1080/10350330.2013.777594
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Abstract

This paper investigates the semiotics of Bitcoin, an electronic cash system that uses decentralized networking to enable irreversible payments. For enthusiasts, Bitcoin provides an alternative to currencies and payment systems that are seen to threaten users' privacy, limit personal liberty, and undermine the value of money through state and corporate oversight. Bitcoin's promise lies in its apparent capacity to resolve these concerns not through regulatory institutions or interpersonal trust, but through its cryptographic protocols. We characterize this semiotics as a “practical materialism” and suggest it replays debates about privacy, labor, and value.

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Crossref · 10.1080/10350330.2013.777594

Cites

23 of 23 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The discourse around Bitcoin suggests a shared belief that the value of a commodity-in this case, a cryptographic one-forms the basis for a shared economy and, thus, community.

    “Indeed, as we have previously argued (Maurer et al., 2013), the discourse around Bitcoin suggests a shared belief that the value of a commodityin this case, a cryptographic one-forms the basis for a shared economy and, thus, community.”

    From Social Payments: Innovation, Trust, Bitcoin, and the Sharing Economy (2018) · cites this paper as Maurer et al., 2013

    The “Materializing value” section describes enthusiasts treating Bitcoin’s value as intrinsic to its code, while the Abstract links Bitcoin to exchange, trust, and community (page numbers unavailable). But “What is the value of a Bitcoin? Trusting the code” says the shared network resembles credit theories more than theories in which value derives from a commodity’s substance. The paper does not establish that commodity value forms the basis of the shared economy and community. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In early bitcoin, trust in the code does not entirely erase the community that bestows it.

    “Ultimately, in early bitcoin, ' trust in the code does not erase entirely the community that bestows it '”

    From In Digital We Trust: Bitcoin Discourse, Digital Currencies, and Decentralized Network Fetishism (2018) · cites this paper as Maurer et al., 2013

  • Bitcoin represents a promise like any other money form, but a promise underwritten and backed by an algorithm and its manifestation in a digital peer-to-peer network.

    “Maurer et al. consider that bitcoin represents a promise like any other money form, ' but a promise underwritten and backed by an algorithm and its manifestation in a digital peer-to-peer network '”

    From In Digital We Trust: Bitcoin Discourse, Digital Currencies, and Decentralized Network Fetishism (2018) · cites this paper as Maurer et al., 2013

  • In early bitcoin, trust in the code substitutes for the socially and politically constituted credibility of persons, institutions and governments, and it is this - not the anonymity, the cryptography or the economics - that makes Bitcoin novel in the long conversation about the nature of money.

    “For them, this is a trust in the code that ' substitutes for the (socially and politically constituted) credibility of persons, institutions, and governments. It is this -not the anonymity or the cryptography or the economics -that makes Bitcoin novel in the long conversation about the nature of money '”

    From In Digital We Trust: Bitcoin Discourse, Digital Currencies, and Decentralized Network Fetishism (2018) · cites this paper as Maurer et al., 2013

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Paul Krugman (2011) and other commentators (e.g., Surowiecki 2011) argue that Bitcoin's value has been determined not by the quantity of Bitcoins in circulation but by growing demand on online exchanges like Mt. Gox, where a small number of transactions has made its exchange rate susceptible to such shifts. Many point to a Bitcoin bubble. From a low of about 80 cents to the dollar, the value of a Bitcoin soared to a high of over $30
  2. Noizat, P. 2012. Bitcoin: A universal complementary currency? ParisTech Review, January 20. http://www.paristechreview.com/2012/01/20/bitcoin-universal-complementary-currency/.

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Authors
Maurer, B., Nelms, T. C., & Swartz, L.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • University of Southern California (US)
Corresponding author
Maurer, Bill
ORCID
Venue
Social Semiotics
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2013-04
Volume
23
Issue
2
Pages
261-277
ISSN
  • 1035-0330 (ISSN-L)
  • 1470-1219
DOI
10.1080/10350330.2013.777594
OpenAlex
W1993755359
Cited by
465
References
23
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 64 · 2019: 66 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
FWCI
319.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Social Semiotics (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0960423)
  • University of California, Irvine
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Semiotics and Representation Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
Keywords
Bitcoin, semiotics, practical materialism, electronic money, decentralized networks, cryptographic protocols, privacy, money, values, labor, alternative currencies, payment systems

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