Bitcoin and the anthropology-economics divide

This guest editorial argues for renewed intellectual engagement between anthropology and economics, two disciplines that became estranged during 20th-century debates over human motivation and cooperation. With anthropologists largely rejecting economic theories following the formalist-substantivist controversy, this ‘disciplinary divorce’ has impoverished anthropological analysis by limiting available theoretical tools. Contemporary anthropologists often mischaracterize economic arguments – particularly regarding barter theory – while remaining unaware of insights from heterodox economic schools that increasingly draw on anthropological methods and findings. Both disciplines share a fundamental concern with developing a general theory of value, making collaboration essential. The institution of money serves as an especially productive site for such interdisciplinary dialogue, functioning simultaneously as a social institution and technology that addresses the coordination problems inherent in complex societies. Bitcoin's emergence as the first natively digital, nonstate medium of exchange presents an unprecedented opportunity to examine how monetary institutions evolve and impact social relationships. By moving beyond disciplinary boundaries and engaging seriously with economic theory, anthropologists can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of value across human societies while advancing both fields’ shared intellectual project of explaining social organization and cultural change.