The value of crypto? Sociotechnical imaginaries on cryptocurrency in YouTube content

Abstract

In less than two decades, cryptocurrency has transformed from being an object of interest for an obscure online community to becoming a digital asset of global appeal. By acknowledging the importance of fictional expectations in the creation of economic value, this study addresses the question: How is the value of crypto imagined? Through quantitative and qualitative coding of 1921 YouTube video transcripts, combined with Exploratory Factor Analysis, this article maps out the sociotechnical imaginaries that attribute value to crypto, that are being disseminated on YouTube. This study identifies four distinct imaginaries that project a value on cryptocurrency: investment, utility, digital metallism, and infrastructural mutualism imaginary. This explorative analysis sheds light on the potential value consumers attribute to cryptocurrencies while opening new research avenues toward a better understanding of the market and its mediation by platform algorithms as potential market devices.