Moneys at the margins

Abstract

This chapter examines how Bitcoin came to secure a place as money at the margins of the global monetary system by focusing on the possibly most controversial question surrounding Bitcoin. It examines the topic of theorizing money. The chapter discusses the initial positioning of Bitcoin against the dominant money game. It develops the original three phases that defined the evolution of Bitcoin as a money game based on evaluation of recent journalist, academic, and governmental publications. The chapter summarizes how the Bitcoin money game changed and shifted since its inception, and how this might affect other existing money games. Bitcoin was initially positioned as a clear criticism of the two-level money system consisting of central banks and commercial banks. The chapter examines the development of the Bitcoin money game over time to understand how Bitcoin could prevail despite starting off without any institutional underpinning or political backing.