Crypto, NFTs, meme stocks and other digital currency investments are seen as either a transparent Ponzi scheme or the future of finance. But what all of these new ways of investing – and generally losing – money have in common is that they’re almost entirely held by young men. Using survey data and research into cryptocurrency and masculinity, Dan Cassino shows that these novel financial instruments are being embraced less as a way to make money than as a way to shore up threatened masculinities.
Changes in how society sees masculinity, and the impossible standards that men feel they need to attain in order to prove their masculinity, can be seen as 'pushing' men towards all sorts of risky behaviors. Young men have turned to digital investments as a way to demonstrate their manhood to themselves and others, trying to find a short cut to the money and respect they think they deserve, while burning down the structures they think are holding them back. Looking at why they buy these products gives us a glimpse into the online communities these men inhabit, the crisis of masculinity facing young men, and the very real costs these dubious investments have on their lives.