If you’ve ever suspected that your crypto-obsessed friend might be a psychopath, you may be on to something.
Digital-asset holders tend to exhibit higher levels of “dark” personality traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism, according to a recent academic paper by researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of Miami published in the journal PLOS One.
“The results presented here suggest that cryptocurrency ownership is associated with several nonnormative and arguably maladaptive characteristics,” the report said, adding that “individuals who had purchased crypto were, on average, more likely to believe conspiracy theories, support extremist groups, and share populist sentiments.”
The study, which surveyed 2,001 American adults, noted that crypto owners tend to score higher on measures of need for chaos, paranoia, schizotypal attributes, dogmatism, victimhood mentality, and psychological reactance, which is a clinical term for motivations triggered by feelings that personal freedoms have been lost. Just under 30% of survey respondents said they own, or have owned, crypto.
It almost goes without saying that there are plenty of examples of “dark” personality traits in the traditional corporate world as well. While this study is the first of its kind to draw inferences between cryptocurrency holders and psychological traits, others have provided links between psychopathy and abusive corporate leadership. A 2014 paper published in Elsevier found a significant positive relationship between employees’ ratings of psychopathy traits in their supervisors and the workers’ self-reported psychological distress and job satisfaction.
And based on anecdotal evidence at least, humorous self-deprecation is also a common trait of crypto fanatics who have experienced all of the market’s ups and downs, scams and scandals. So some traders are taking the psychopath label in stride.
For example, the study’s conclusions came as no surprise to Chris Wheeler, a 57-year-old crypto trader.
“You literally have to be crazy to be involved in something where your net worth is going up a million and down a million in one day,” Wheeler said. “Nothing is guaranteed.”
In 2021, the price of Bitcoin climbed to almost $69,000 before sinking below $16,000 in 2022 and then rocketing back to an all-time peak of almost $74,000 this year. Over the last few years, the digital asset industry has been whipsawed by everything from leaders getting convicted of fraud to presidential candidate Donald Trump touting a strategic national stockpile of Bitcoin.
The strongest predictors of whether someone owns cryptocurrency include variables such as being male, having a victimhood mindset, or relying on fringe social-media sources for news, the researchers wrote.
To be sure, the sample of participants in the study was relatively limited, and those surveyed were told to report their own characteristics. But its conclusions still resonate.
“Call us whatever you want,” Wheeler said. “We’re leading the way.”
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