{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T18:43:38Z","timestamp":1760035418401,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]],"date-time":"2025-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751932800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Prior research has focused on the technical and institutional challenges of blockchain adoption. However, little is known about how blockchain ventures claim categorical space in the market and how such domain positioning influences their visibility and evaluation. This study investigates the relationship between strategic domain positioning and market recognition among blockchain-based ventures, with a particular focus on applications relevant to e-commerce, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Drawing on research on categorization, legitimacy, and the technology lifecycle, we propose a domain lifecycle perspective that accounts for the evolving expectations and legitimacy criteria across blockchain domains. Using BERTopic, a transformer-based topic modeling method, we classify 9665 blockchain ventures based on their textual business descriptions. We then test the impact of domain positioning on market recognition\u2014proxied by Crunchbase rank\u2014while examining the moderating effects of external validation signals such as funding events, media attention, and organizational age. Our findings reveal that clear domain positioning significantly enhances market recognition, but the strength and direction of this effect vary by domain. Specifically, NFT ventures experience stronger recognition when young and less institutionally validated, suggesting a novelty premium, while DeFi ventures benefit more from conventional legitimacy signals. These results advance our understanding of how categorical dynamics operate in emerging digital ecosystems and offer practical insights for e-commerce platforms, investors, and entrepreneurs navigating blockchain-enabled innovation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer20030174","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]],"date-time":"2025-07-08T04:18:11Z","timestamp":1751948291000},"page":"174","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Claiming Space: Domain Positioning and Market Recognition in Blockchain"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Yu-Tong","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea"}]},{"given":"Eun-Jung","family":"Hyun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Business Administration, Hongik University, Seoul 04066, Republic of Korea"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.1145\/3359552","article-title":"Some simple economics of the blockchain","volume":"63","author":"Catalini","year":"2020","journal-title":"Commun. 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