{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T23:21:46Z","timestamp":1777936906371,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,11]],"date-time":"2018-07-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1531267200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Subscribing to a techno-utopian discourse replacing institutions and experts with \u201ctrust in code,\u201d digital alternative currency Bitcoin is pitched as a \u201cmath-based money\u201d governed by incorruptible code rather than human regulators. In three cases, which occurred between 2013 and 2015, we examine this system at moments of breakdown. In contrast to the discourse, we find that power is concentrated to critical sites and individuals who manage the system through ad hoc negotiations, and who users must therefore implicitly trust\u2014a contrast we call Bitcoin\u2019s \u201cpromissory gap.\u201d But even in the face of such contradictions between premise and reality, the discourse is maintained. We identify four authorizing strategies used in this work: conflating people with devices, assuming actors conform to notions of economic rationality, appealing to technical expertise, and explaining contradictions as temporary bugs. We contend that these strategies are mobilized widely to legitimize a variety of applications of algorithmic regulation and peer production projects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444818786220","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,11]],"date-time":"2018-07-11T06:42:17Z","timestamp":1531291337000},"page":"42-59","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":59,"title":["Mine the gap: Bitcoin and the maintenance of trustlessness"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Gili","family":"Vidan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Harvard University, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vili","family":"Lehdonvirta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Oxford, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Andresen G (2014a) Contrary to Mt. Gox\u2019s statement, Bitcoin is not at fault. The Bitcoin Foundation. Available at: https:\/\/bitcoinfoundation.org\/contrary-to-mt-goxs-statement-bitcoin-is-not-at-fault\/ (accessed 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr2-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Andresen G (2014b) Centralized mining. The Bitcoin Foundation. Available at: https:\/\/bitcoinfoundation.org\/centralized-mining\/ (accessed 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr3-1461444818786220","volume-title":"Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity","author":"Beck U","year":"1992"},{"key":"bibr4-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Brustein J (2014) Is one Bitcoin miner controlling the entire system? Bloomberg, 16 June. Available at: https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2014-06-16\/could-bitcoin-miner-ghash-dot-io-control-the-entire-bitcoin-system (accessed 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr5-1461444818786220","volume-title":"Zoo City","author":"Buekes L","year":"2010"},{"key":"bibr6-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Casey MJ, Vigna P (2014) BitBeat: mining pool rejects short-term fixes to avert \u201c51% attack.\u201d The Wall Street Journal, 16 June. Available at: https:\/\/blogs.wsj.com\/moneybeat\/2014\/06\/16\/bitbeat-a-51-attack-what-is-it-and-could-it-happen\/ (accessed 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr7-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/9780262015424.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr8-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Dalais J (2015) Gavin Andresen: We have a Bitcoin soft fork going on. CryptoCoinsNews, 22 April. Available at: https:\/\/www.cryptocoinsnews.com\/gavin-andresen-bitcoin-soft-fork-going-eta-increased-block-size-6-months-year\/ (accessed on 18 February 2018)."},{"key":"bibr9-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.14763\/2016.3.427"},{"key":"bibr10-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400852048"},{"key":"bibr11-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0263276417746464"},{"key":"bibr12-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Fuller C (2014) MtGox blames Bitcoin for withdrawal suspension, core developers say otherwise: who is really at fault? International Business Times, 11 February. Available at: http:\/\/www.ibtimes.com\/mtgox-blames-bitcoin-withdrawal-suspension-core-developers-say-otherwise-who-really-fault-1554512 (accessed on: 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr13-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5658.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr14-1461444818786220","unstructured":"GHash.IO (2014) Press release: Bitcoin mining pool GHash.IO is preventing accumulation of 51% of all hashing power. Available at: http:\/\/ghash.io\/ghshio_press_release.pdf (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr15-1461444818786220","volume-title":"Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age","author":"Giddens A","year":"1991"},{"key":"bibr16-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Hals T (2014) Mt. Gox files U.S. bankruptcy, opponents call it a ruse. Reuters, 10 March. Available at: http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2014\/03\/10\/us-bitcoin-mtgox-bankruptcy-idUSBREA290WU20140310 (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr17-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Hern A (2014) Bitcoin currency could have been destroyed by \u201c51%\u201d attack. The Guardian, 16 June. Available at: http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2014\/jun\/16\/bitcoin-currency-destroyed-51-attack-ghash-io (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr18-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-010-0185-4_8"},{"key":"bibr19-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/lril\/lrw021"},{"key":"bibr20-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1215\/9780822389002"},{"key":"bibr21-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0306312717739367"},{"key":"bibr22-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Kharif O, Leising M (2018) All about Bitcoin, blockchain, and their crypto world: QuickTake. Bloomberg, 11 December. Available on: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/all-about-bitcoin-blockchain-and-their-crypto-world-quicktake\/2017\/12\/11\/ba566a26-de9b-11e7-b2e9-8c636f076c76_story.html?utm_term=.9ea6183480b8 (accessed on: 11 February 2018)."},{"key":"bibr23-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-954X.1990.tb03350.x"},{"key":"bibr24-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/4529.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr25-1461444818786220","volume":"4","author":"Mallard A","year":"2014","journal-title":"Journal of Peer Production"},{"key":"bibr26-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1353\/tech.2010.0009"},{"key":"bibr27-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/10350330.2013.777594"},{"key":"bibr28-1461444818786220","first-page":"65","volume-title":"Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias","author":"May T","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr29-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Mims C (2014) The existential threat to Bitcoin its boosters said was impossible is now at hand. Quartz, 9 January. Available at: http:\/\/qz.com\/165273\/the-existential-threat-to-bitcoin-its-boosters-said-was-impossible-is-now-at-hand\/ (accessed on: 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr30-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-642-39884-1_3"},{"key":"bibr31-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Nakamoto S (2008) Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Available at: https:\/\/bitcoin.org\/bitcoin.pdf (accessed on: 11 February 2018)."},{"key":"bibr32-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3134434.3136559"},{"key":"bibr33-1461444818786220","first-page":"635","volume":"81","author":"Nissenbaum H","year":"2001","journal-title":"Boston University Law Review"},{"key":"bibr34-1461444818786220","volume-title":"Money and Liberation: The Micropolitics of Alternative Currency Movements","author":"North P","year":"2007"},{"key":"bibr35-1461444818786220","first-page":"289","volume-title":"Beyond Transparency: Open Data and the Future of Civic Innovation","author":"O\u2019Reilly T","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr36-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Parker L (2015) Number of Bitcoin miners far higher than popular estimates. Brave New Coin, 13 May. Available at: http:\/\/bravenewcoin.com\/news\/number-of-bitcoin-miners-far-higher-than-popular-estimates\/ (accessed on 2 September 2015)."},{"key":"bibr37-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Popper N, Abrams R (2014) Apparent theft at Mt. Gox shakes Bitcoin world. The New York Times, 25 February. Available at: http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2014\/02\/25\/business\/apparent-theft-at-mt-gox-shakes-bitcoin-world.html (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr38-1461444818786220","volume-title":"Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life","author":"Porter TM","year":"1995"},{"key":"bibr39-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Pressat (2014) GHash.IO is open for discussion, June 16. Available at: http:\/\/www.pressat.co.uk\/releases\/ghashio-is-open-for-discussion-93ee9eeb66b80e94bbe31705d451780e\/ (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr40-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Slush (2014) Is it safe? BitcoinCZ mining aka slush\u2019s pool. Available at: http:\/\/mining.bitcoin.cz (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr41-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/00027649921955326"},{"key":"bibr42-1461444818786220","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/09502386.2017.1416420"},{"key":"bibr43-1461444818786220","unstructured":"The Economist\n                      (2014) Losing to win. 23 June. Available at: http:\/\/www.economist.com\/blogs\/schumpeter\/2014\/06\/bitcoin (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr44-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Todd P (2014) Why I just sold 50% of my Bitcoins: GHash.IO. Reddit. Available at: http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/bitcoin\/comments\/281ftd\/why_i_just_sold_50_of_my_bitcoins_ghashio (accessed on: 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr45-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Vaghela V (2018) ICE chief says crypto trading is a \u201ctrend we can\u2019t ignore.\u201d Bloomberg, 9 April. Available at: https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-04-09\/ice-s-chief-says-crypto-trading-is-a-trend-we-can-t-ignore (accessed on 30 April 2018)"},{"key":"bibr46-1461444818786220","volume-title":"Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology","author":"Weber M","year":"1978"},{"key":"bibr47-1461444818786220","unstructured":"West SM (2017) Survival of the cryptic. Limn. Available at: https:\/\/limn.it\/survival-of-the-cryptic\/ (accessed 11 February 2018)."},{"key":"bibr48-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Wile R (2014) A group of miners has exposed one of Bitcoin\u2019s fatal flaws. Business Insider, 10 January. Available at: https:\/\/www.businessinsider.in\/A-Group-Of-Miners-Has-Exposed-One-Of-Bitcoins-Fatal-Flaws\/articleshow\/28644511.cms (accessed on 30 July 2014)."},{"key":"bibr49-1461444818786220","unstructured":"Wu T (2017) The Bitcoin boom: in code we trust. The New York Times, 18 December. 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