3: Cryptomarket Research Methods, Ethics and Epistemologies

Whereas the previous chapter focused on what is known about cryptomarkets, this chapter is concerned with how these pieces of knowledge have been arrived at, what the research methods are that have been deployed and the strengths and limitations of the various approaches that have been used. By reviewing the methods that have been successful, and in some cases unsuccessful, and by integrating these methods into knowledge outlined in the previous chapters, this section of the book shall not only give an overview of what should be considered best practice when it comes to researching cryptomarkets, but also highlight areas where there are opportunities and needs for further refinements and development. Reviewing a large amount of work necessitates a broad and relatively shallow treatment of each, but it is hoped that the references that are mentioned below give the interested reader departure points that they can follow up directly for more detailed discussion of some of the key points. To achieve this aim, the chapter splits broadly into two sections after a brief foray into an overview of the market environment: the first part provides an overview of the main methodological approaches that have been used to attempt to understand the cryptomarket phenomena; with the second outlining some of the issues that are inherently tied to the investigations with suggested avenues for further research.