Beware, Conspiracy Ahead: Approaching Virtual Currencies as Potential Sources of Conspiracy Theories

Abstract

One of the hot topics of the second decade of the 21 st century has been the introduction and the growth of virtual currencies. By many, they are also called crypto currencies due to the technology they depend on, and the most famous and advanced of them is Bitcoin. Though Bitcoin and other virtual currencies that were inspired by its success are not taken seriously by a significant number of people, there is, at the same time, a crypto currency hype which plagues the whole world with millions of people trading their regulated fiat currencies in exchange for virtual currencies whose values are extremely volatile. Virtual currencies attract people from all walks of life and there seems to be two camps; those who believe it is a remarkable revolution in progress, and those who consider it the biggest scam of the 21 st century. When there is this much interest in a certain phenomenon, it is quite likely that the phenomenon may urge individuals to activate their conspiratorial mindsets. The very structure of crypto currencies involves elements that can easily lead to the proliferation of conspiracies. For the purposes of this article, the reasons why virtual currencies can be legitimate sources of great conspiracies will be highlighted referring to the basics of these currencies and their working model. In addition, possible conspiracy theories that may pop up surrounding crypto currencies will be mentioned.