A crypto way out: cryptocurrency, techno-economic imaginaries, and crisis in Russia

Kobe De Keere and Maksim Novokreshchenov

Journal of Cultural Economy, 2025, vol. 18, issue 2, 247-265

Abstract: Russia is a global forerunner in cryptocurrency adoption. This paper explores how cryptocurrency, as a techno-economic actant, informs the way Russians strategize their lives and imagine alternative futures. Based on in-depth interviews with Russian cryptocurrency owners and advocates (N = 21), we show how this new digital asset is tied to specific techno-economic imaginaries, allowing Russians to envision shortcuts out of prolonged crises. By mobilizing concepts from science and technology studies, sociology of crises, and the study of economic valuation, we unpack how cryptocurrency has a performative effect (i.e. acts and makes act) on the way Russians live during crises. The analysis reveals three shortcuts on different social levels. First, on a day-to-day level, cryptocurrency is imagined as a way to hedge against inflation, circumvent payment restrictions, and find alternative sources of income. Second, it acquires political value as it is seen as a means to circumvent state power through self-custody of value and anonymity. Finally, engagement with cryptocurrency fosters a belief in an alternative geofinancial configuration, envisioning the replacement of the US Dollar as the global currency and imagining a post-state tech utopia.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17530350.2024.2413111 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jculte:v:18:y:2025:i:2:p:247-265

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RJCE20

DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2024.2413111

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Cultural Economy is currently edited by Michael Pryke, Joe Deville, Tony Bennett, Liz McFall and Melinda Cooper

More articles in Journal of Cultural Economy from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().