Abstract
Over the last decade, Bitcoin and its offshoots have transformed from niche technologies into primary movers in global technology sectors. Research is an important driver of innovation for these technologies, yet this research ecosystem is poorly understood. This article investigates ethical research risks associated with cryptocurrencies and the related family of digital “value” technologies (blockchains, digital tokens, digital ledgers, and so on). It reconceptualizes theories of ethical contagion through an empirical analysis of technological innovation. In this article, ethical research risks are identified through 1) an analysis of research methods and ethics disclosure practices in published empirical research and 2) a survey of academic research practices and researcher opinions. These data identified multiple research ethics issues. It was discovered that most researchers have extensive and undisclosed industry relationships, have undisclosed conflicts of interest arising from token ownership, and report low use of institutional review or ethics guidelines, among other issues. Three novel research risks — conflicts of interest, risky methods, and disclosure — are then introduced and compared to the risks of conventional research. It is argued that these technologies introduce risks of ethical contagion as they are integrated with existing information systems. These findings suggest a new class of ethical and normative research practice, comparable to fields such as bio- or nanotechnology ethics. Based on these analyses, eight principles for ethical research are described, with practical lessons for the researcher.
Highlights
Researching cryptocurrencies and blockchains is fraught with ethical quandaries
I describe each theme individually and identify and compare ethical research risks to draw out broader implications
The rate of use of Research Ethics Boards (REBs)/Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) reported by engineers and computer scientists alone (18%) is significantly lower than those reported by all other researchers (58%) (p: 0.04; Figure 2)
Summary
Researching cryptocurrencies and blockchains is fraught with ethical quandaries. This kind of research combines the challenges of studying computer security, financial technologies, online and anonymous communities, and novel and emerging technologies. Through successive investment and hype cycles, these technologies have expanded in scope and have been integrated with existing information and management systems, in turn introducing social and ethical complexities that are not well understood This article explores this challenging ethical terrain with a two-step research design followed by an analysis of three areas of research, detailing eight principles for ethical cryptocurrency and blockchain research. A large-scale review of academic literature identifies research methods and the prevalence of ethics disclosure statements This analysis found limited evidence of ethical deliberation and very few disclosure statements—as well, most seriously, an underreporting of financial conflicts of interest. A survey of cryptocurrency and blockchain researchers reports on six themes: research methods, awareness of ethics guidelines, ethics and pedagogy, software vulnerability disclosure, token ownership and disclosure, and industry relations. These findings suggest that cryptocurrencies and blockchains comprise a new class of ethical and normative research practice (comparable to fields such as bio- and nanotechnology ethics) and, through technological innovation and adoption, introduce risks to a broader technology landscape
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