Bitcoin e os vazios institucionais : uma abordagem histórica da moeda

Abstract

The use of the currency is something intrinsic in everyday life and we often do not realize the complexity it bears. Bitcoin is an emergent phenomenon, which postulates as a currency, and due to its nature and proposal, it deserves to be investigated. Even though there is a large list of cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin deserves special attention for being a precursor, holding greater market shares and greater transactions volume and, as a consequence, enjoying greater popularity. The institutions, in general, should provide security, stability and reduce risks and uncertainties. Under the perspective of the institutional voids, lens that observe especially the emerging markets, an analysis of a recent phenomenon that postulates space as currency and is surrounded by situations yet to be defined is proposed. Hence, the objective of this dissertation is to analyze how the institutional voids manifest themselves in the bitcoin institutionalization process as currency. For this exploration, the qualitative approach is applied, carrying out a brief literature review, using comparative historical research to assess the currency’s evolution and semi-structured interviews in order to understand how the community perceives this phenomenon. After the interviews analysis, it is possible to identify how the institutional voids manifest themselves and which opportunities and challenges they face, confirming what theoretical proposal had already proposed previously. Thus, besides the empirical contribution in researches about Bitcoins, there is also the theoretical exploration of the institutional voids.