Beyond the Veil : Mapping Cryptocurrencies’ Ecosystem

This paper’s objective is important for clarifying the economic characteristics of the cryptocurrencies’ ecosystem and thus providing an interpretative grid for future research. Far from being limited to the Bitcoin’s experience, the number of cryptocurrencies is large and new crypto-like assets are constantly being created. The multiplicity of cryptocurrencies raises questions about their similarities and their differences. Attempts at classification have indeed been made, but these focused either on the strictly technological architecture, or on their socio-technical features in terms of governance. Almost no classification of cryptocurrencies has been done from an economic perspective except for Delfin and Van Der Merwe. This article seeks to fill this gap in the literature. We do so by developing a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) analysis based on how cryptocurrencies present themselves on the internet. Our results show that cryptocurrencies are not a monolithic bloc when it comes to the width of their goals and the idea of society they put forward. They can be divided according four categories: reform, revolutionary, monetary, blockchain