Competing stakeholder narratives on crypto-assets: Miracle or mirage?

Abstract

Academic and practitioner interest in crypto-assets is gaining momentum. Different values and agendas influence regulatory policy. Competing ideologies and social norms about the efficacy of regulatory regimes, the influence of innovation philosophies, and the need to foster ethical principles and practices, underpin debates on crypto-assets. Semi-structured interviews were carried out in the USA and U.K. with regulators, tech firms, institutional and retail investors, and crypto social media influencers. Stakeholder groups were classified as interventionists, innovators, influencers, and investors. The research builds a data structure from extant literature and empirical research. Aggregate dimensions of inchoate technology, regulatory intervention, and innovation social norms reflect complex and competing stakeholder positions on crypto assets. Findings show crypto-assets are not homogenous, but highly differentiated with potential effects and outcomes determined by algorithmic code. However, competing stakeholder agendas obfuscate policy development for decentralized finance.