Research & Programming

Cryptocurrency and Democracy

Overview

This project will examine the relationship between democratic institutes and cryptocurrency technologies and industries. It will track cryptocurrency-related policy and market developments. It will also bring together diverse stakeholders, such researchers, technologies, policymakers, and journalists, to foster meaningful dialogue. In addition, it will create accessible educational resources to help the public navigate this complex landscape. The overarching goal is to provide thoughtful analysis during a period of significant technological and political transformation.

Research Team

DTD Lab Seed Grant Recipient

Lana Swartz

Affiliations

Associate Professor, Media Studies, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

Bio

Lana Swartz is an associate professor of media studies. She studies social and cultural aspects of money to understand the future of financial technology, livelihoods, financial literacy, and consumer protection in the digital economy. She is currently writing a book on scams, which will be about all of that, as well her upbringing on a boat in Miami. She is also working on a major project focused on youth financial wellness in the digital economy, funded by TYDE.

Her book, New Money: How Payment Became Social Media was released from Yale University Press in 2020. It was named #12 on a list of "greatest tech books of all time" by The Verge. Her co-edited book Paid: Tales of Dongles, Checks, and Other Money Stuff was published by MIT Press in April 2017. In 2023, she released a major research research report on the warning signs and ways forward for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which was conducted in collaboration with the MIT Digital Currency Initiative. Her co-authored 2013 article on bitcoin was the first socio-cultural analysis of cryptocurrency. Her 2018 follow-up article has also been influential among policymakers and academics working to understand the significance of new money forms. She has also published on topics ranging from the Diners Club Card to ICO scams to blockchain dreams.

She has held fellowships with Berggruen Institute, University of Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England. She received the 2024 Research Excellence Award from the University of Virginia.

She regularly speaks to academic, industry, and public audiences, such as recent keynotes at Cambridge University Law School, Re:Publica in Berlin, and the Interdisciplinary Market Studies Workshop. Her work has been featured in the New Yorker, New York Times, PBS Nova, TANK, Wall Street Journal, and more.

Lana Swartz is a member of the graduate faculty.

Full Profile

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Maximilian Brichta

Max Brichta is a postdoctoral research associate working with UVA’s Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) research initiative. His current research looks focuses on the convergence between media and financial literacy in the age of digital finance. Max’s book project Network Money: The Vernacular Economics of Cryptocurrencies seeks to explain how participants in crypto ecosystems join for profit and play but stay for purpose and polemic. Max is also a non-resident research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh’s Communication Technology Research Lab (CTRL) writing about the nexus of crypto and disinformation. He holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Southern California.

Graduate Research Assistant

James Brennan

James Brennan is a PhD student in Media Studies at the University of Virginia. His research concerns cryptocurrency regulation. Previously, James received his master’s in Media and Public Engagement at the University of Colorado Boulder where his work centered on financialization, theories of value, and NFTs.