What is Blockchain Accounting? A Critical Examination in Relation to Organizing, Governance, and Trust
Dane Pflueger, Martin Kornberger, Jan Mouritsen
Abstract
Across industry and academia, there is currently much discussion about the implications of blockchain for accounting. We contribute to these ongoing discussions by critically investigating the claim that blockchain exists as a novel and foundational accounting technology. We do so by examining the central imaginaries associated with blockchain and investigating their incomplete crystallisations in the application of Bitcoin. This leads us to highlight three central features of blockchain accounting related to the changes in modes of organization, governance and trust, which we contextualize in relation to theoretical and empirical work. By doing so, we gain a nuanced understanding of the complex ways in which blockchain accounting and the processes and professional tasks commonly associated with accounting coexist and may interact.