Kryptowaluty jako obiekt badań w naukach społecznych – obszary empirycznej eksploracji

Abstract

Cryptocurrencies are a decentralized, peer–to–peer network architecture, cryptographically secured, based on trust and consensus, type of virtual currency, incompletely fulfilling some functions of money. They constitute a new interdisciplinary subject of scientific research. In the article, the author indicates potential areas of empirical exploration that can be conducted by representatives of social sciences. The four areas identified were: research on attitudes and opinions, the behavior of the community of cryptocurrency users, products of Internet culture and the structure of the Internet, including, in particular, the block chain. The research is based on well–established techniques, classic in research practice, which, due to the different nature of virtual and physical reality, are modified and adapted to technical conditions.