Bitcoin and distrust of institutions: Evidence from political scandals
Cryptocurrency prices differ across countries, and these price deviations fluctuate widely. We model cryptocurrencies as an asset immune from local government expropriation, and trust serves as the perceived probability of government misconduct. After political scandal outbreaks, Bitcoin prices rise by 1.31% and Ethereum prices by 0.83% relative to their U.S. dollar prices on average. The price deviation responses are larger in countries where citizens have less trust in government. With panel regressions, we show domestic cryptocurrency prices become more expensive when higher volumes of Google searches are related to domestic institutional failures.