Abstract
Bitcoin, a decentralized cryptocurrency, has not only given rise to a wave of digital innovations but also stirred up considerable controversy. Some have hailed it as the most significant innovation since the Internet, while others have dismissed it as a Ponzi scheme that should be abandoned and forbidden. Regardless of these varying views, this is an innovation in need of scrutiny. In this paper we present a metastory of Bitcoin, based on an interpretative study of 737 news articles between 2011–2019. Through our analysis, we identified five narratives, including The Dark Side, The Bright Side, The Tulip Mania, The Idea, and The Normality. Our analysis demonstrates the interpretive flexibility of technology as influenced by ideologies, and we construct a theoretical model demonstrating media’s role as constructor and conduit. The metastory provides an institutional look at the broader interpretations of digital innovations as well as the multifaceted nature of digital innovations and how their interpretation evolve over time.
Highlights
Drawing upon a constructionist philosophy [42], this paper reveals a meta story of Bitcoin as told through two major news outlets from Sweden and the USA
Through the analysis of 737 news articles, we develop a theoretical model showing how media construct Bitcoin and thereby provide an institutional look at the broader context of digital innovations
Our purpose is to shed light on how digital innovations were portrayed in the news media and how this shaped the general perception of the innovation
Summary
Res. 2021, 16, On 31 October 2008, a digital innovation was born, conceived by Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” [1]. It marks the starting point of a storied tale of an emerging monetary and payment innovation that has stirred up considerable controversy. The strongest criticism comes from the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz who argued that “Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight” and “it ought to be outlawed”
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