| dc.description.abstract | This thesis explores how, through the patterns of expectations surrounding Bitcoin as how they were voiced by different actor groups (entrepreneurs, incumbents, knowledge institutions, policy makers, users, and the media), expectations affect the developmental direction of new technology. A greater understanding of how attention and expectations, sometimes in the form of hypes, influence technological trajectories, makes it easier to differentiate between expectations that are realistic to achieve and those that are not. This way investors, businesses, and policy makers can be better prepared to meet the societal changes that follow. Using the Hype Cycle, Google Trends, the price of bitcoin, and content analysis of articles procured from Atekst, this thesis describes the expectations given to Bitcoin technology, and how changing expectations can give us an idea of the future of the technology; research has suggested that different types of expectation dynamics can lead to different types of disappointment after a hype, which in turn affects technological development. The findings suggest that while there is immaturity in the voiced expectations, with few instances of project- and time-specific expectations, the attention given the technology follows a recognizable hype pattern up to a certain point––there has been a peak and a decline, but within the time frame looked at here, no upward slope again. For that to happen, this thesis finds that a reorientation of expectations relating to technological capabilities is necessary. | eng |