“This book is a thoroughly researched, detailed and conceptually thought-out example of what we call ‘ethnographic theory’ – which is really the best kind of anthropology.” • Diana Espírito Santo, Universidad Católica de Chile
• Set in Tel Aviv’s ‘Bitcoin Embassy’ – a meeting hub established by bitcoin early-adopters at the heart of Israel’s financial epicentre – this book revisits bitcoin’s popular association with radical individualism. Based on two years of in-person encounters and participation in multiple public events, it focuses instead on the collective humanistic promise advocated by members of the local community. Unveiling the ideas, beliefs and myths that underpin bitcoiners’ pursuit of liberation from centralized economic hierarchies, this ethnography offers valuable insights into latter-day techno-utopian visions of society, along with their inherent paradoxes and ultimate nihilist potential.
Matan Shapiro is a social anthropologist currently researching the cultural dimensions of joy in Northeast Brazil as part of the ERC-funded AnthropoloJoy Project at the Department of Anthropology, University College London.
BISAC: SOC002010 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/Cultural & Social; BUS114000 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies; BUS008000 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS/Business Ethics
available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) with support from University of Bergen.
