Who Uses Bitcoin? An exploration of the Bitcoin community

Jeremiah Bohr, Masooda Bashir

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Many cryptocurrencies have come into existence in recent years, with Bitcoin the most prominent among them. Although its short history has been volatile, the virtual currency maintains a core group of committed users. This paper presents an exploratory analysis of Bitcoin users. As a virtual currency and peer-to-peer payment system, Bitcoin may signal future challenges to state oversight and financial powers through its decentralized structure and offer of instantaneous transactions with relative anonymity. Very little is known about the users of Bitcoin, however. Utilizing publicly available survey data of Bitcoin users, this analysis explores the structure of the Bitcoin community in terms of wealth accumulation, optimism about the future of Bitcoin, and themes that attract users to the cryptocurrency. Results indicate that age, time of initial use, geographic location, mining status, engaging online discourse, and political orientation are all relevant factors that help explain various aspects of Bitcoin wealth, optimism, and attraction.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2014 12th Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust, PST 2014
EditorsAli Miri, Audun Josang, Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro, Urs Hengartner, Nen-Fu Huang
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages94-101
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781479935031
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
Event2014 12th Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust, PST 2014 - Toronto, Canada
Duration: Jul 23 2014Jul 24 2014

Publication series

Name2014 12th Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust, PST 2014

Other

Other2014 12th Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust, PST 2014
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityToronto
Period7/23/147/24/14

Keywords

  • Anonymity
  • Bitcoin
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Digital Money
  • Virtual Currency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Who Uses Bitcoin? An exploration of the Bitcoin community'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this