Bitcoin bros : cryptocurrency, finance and masculinity
Description
Dan CASSINO. Bitcoin bros : cryptocurrency, finance and masculinity. London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2025. Online resource, e-book.
Crypto, NFTs, meme stocks and other digital currency investments are seen as either a transparent Ponzi scheme or the future of finance. But what all of these new ways of investing - and generally losing - money have in common is that they're almost entirely held by young men. Using survey data and research into cryptocurrency and masculinity, Dan Cassino shows that men are using these novel financial instruments, which although not a very successful way to make money, to shore up their threatened masculine gender identities. Changes in how society sees masculinity, and the impossible standards that men feel they need to attain in order to prove their masculinity, can be seen as 'pushing' men towards all sorts of risky behaviors. More recently, young men are turning to digital investments as a way to demonstrate their manhood to themselves and others. Looking at why they buy these products gives us a glimpse into the online communities these men inhabit, the crisis of masculinity facing young men, and the very real costs these dubious investments have on their lives.
Crypto, NFTs, meme stocks and other digital currency investments are seen as either a transparent Ponzi scheme or the future of finance. But what all of these new ways of investing - and generally losing - money have in common is that they're almost entirely held by young men. Using survey data and research into cryptocurrency and masculinity, Dan Cassino shows that men are using these novel financial instruments, which although not a very successful way to make money, to shore up their threatened masculine gender identities. Changes in how society sees masculinity, and the impossible standards that men feel they need to attain in order to prove their masculinity, can be seen as 'pushing' men towards all sorts of risky behaviors. More recently, young men are turning to digital investments as a way to demonstrate their manhood to themselves and others. Looking at why they buy these products gives us a glimpse into the online communities these men inhabit, the crisis of masculinity facing young men, and the very real costs these dubious investments have on their lives.