{"id":{"repo_id":"washington","oai_identifier":"oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/43342"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/washington/oai:digital.lib.washington.edu:1773/43342","repository":{"repo_id":"washington","name":"University of Washington","base_url":"https://digital.lib.washington.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Rhetoric of Bitcoin: Money, Politics, and the Construction of Blockchain Communities","abstract":"The rise of Bitcoin and related digital currencies has been accompanied by a proliferation of discourse about these technologies, including debates about their value and status as forms of money. This dissertation examines digital currency discourse from a rhetorical perspective, and traces the development and impact of a key trope of early Bitcoin discourse--the application of commodity money rhetoric to Bitcoin--to understand the rhetorical construction of Bitcoin. It argues that early attempts to establish Bitcoin as a form of money, which figured Bitcoin as a \"natural\" entity beyond the reach of community politics, produced an unanticipated rhetorical fallout: the displacement of the politics of the Bitcoin community onto the development of Bitcoin as a technology. It further argues that this early displacement continues to influence the rhetorical dynamics of Bitcoin and its heirs by shaping subsequent debates over digital currency governance and valuation.","abstract_html":"The rise of Bitcoin and related digital currencies has been accompanied by a proliferation of discourse about these technologies, including debates about their value and status as forms of money. This dissertation examines digital currency discourse from a rhetorical perspective, and traces the development and impact of a key trope of early Bitcoin discourse--the application of commodity money rhetoric to Bitcoin--to understand the rhetorical construction of Bitcoin. It argues that early attempts to establish Bitcoin as a form of money, which figured Bitcoin as a "natural" entity beyond the reach of community politics, produced an unanticipated rhetorical fallout: the displacement of the politics of the Bitcoin community onto the development of Bitcoin as a technology. It further argues that this early displacement continues to influence the rhetorical dynamics of Bitcoin and its heirs by shaping subsequent debates over digital currency governance and valuation.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bellinger, Matthew Charles"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Harold, Christine"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-02-22","date_published":"2019-02-22","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:58:23Z","subjects":["bitcoin","blockchain","cryptocurrency","digital currency","money","rhetoric","Communication","Sociology"],"languages":["en_US"],"rights":["none"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1773/43342","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Harold, Christine"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bellinger, Matthew Charles"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-02-22T17:04:09Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-02-22T17:04:09Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019-02-22"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["bitcoin","blockchain","cryptocurrency","digital currency","money","rhetoric","Communication","Sociology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_US"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["none"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["Bellinger_washington_0250E_19261.pdf"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1773/43342"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2018"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The rise of Bitcoin and related digital currencies has been accompanied by a proliferation of discourse about these technologies, including debates about their value and status as forms of money. This dissertation examines digital currency discourse from a rhetorical perspective, and traces the development and impact of a key trope of early Bitcoin discourse--the application of commodity money rhetoric to Bitcoin--to understand the rhetorical construction of Bitcoin. It argues that early attempts to establish Bitcoin as a form of money, which figured Bitcoin as a \"natural\" entity beyond the reach of community politics, produced an unanticipated rhetorical fallout: the displacement of the politics of the Bitcoin community onto the development of Bitcoin as a technology. It further argues that this early displacement continues to influence the rhetorical dynamics of Bitcoin and its heirs by shaping subsequent debates over digital currency governance and valuation."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Rhetoric of Bitcoin: Money, Politics, and the Construction of Blockchain Communities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Harold, Christine"],"dc:creator":["Bellinger, Matthew Charles"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-02-22T17:04:09Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-02-22T17:04:09Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019-02-22"],"dc:description":["Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2018"],"dc:description.abstract":["The rise of Bitcoin and related digital currencies has been accompanied by a proliferation of discourse about these technologies, including debates about their value and status as forms of money. This dissertation examines digital currency discourse from a rhetorical perspective, and traces the development and impact of a key trope of early Bitcoin discourse--the application of commodity money rhetoric to Bitcoin--to understand the rhetorical construction of Bitcoin. It argues that early attempts to establish Bitcoin as a form of money, which figured Bitcoin as a \"natural\" entity beyond the reach of community politics, produced an unanticipated rhetorical fallout: the displacement of the politics of the Bitcoin community onto the development of Bitcoin as a technology. It further argues that this early displacement continues to influence the rhetorical dynamics of Bitcoin and its heirs by shaping subsequent debates over digital currency governance and valuation."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.other":["Bellinger_washington_0250E_19261.pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1773/43342"],"dc:language.iso":["en_US"],"dc:rights":["none"],"dc:subject":["bitcoin","blockchain","cryptocurrency","digital currency","money","rhetoric","Communication","Sociology"],"dc:title":["The Rhetoric of Bitcoin: Money, Politics, and the Construction of Blockchain Communities"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:58:23Z"}