Amid the rapid evolution of digital currencies and the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, technology-driven, anonymous, and cross-border financial crimes pose systemic challenges to traditional regulatory frameworks. Grounded in three core theories of criminal psychology—Rational Choice Theory, Routine Activity Theory, and Techniques of Neutralization—and integrating the “technology–society co-construction” perspective from the sociology of technology, this study constructs a three-dimensional analytical framework encompassing “technological ecology, social cognition, and individual psychology.” It systematically elucidates the psychological formation logic and evolutionary pathways of financial crimes within the DeFi domain. The research reveals that the technical features of DeFi—anonymity, decentralization, and code autonomy—collectively create a “structural opportunity space” characterized by low accountability costs and weakened moral constraints. Subcultural communities further supply “morally neutralizing scripts” through narratives of crypto-libertarianism and the myth of “code as law.” Under these dual influences, individual psychology undergoes transformation, manifesting as complex motivations, distorted risk perceptions, and heightened moral disengagement, ultimately leading to a rationalization mechanism for criminal acts veiled behind “technological neutrality.”
Liang Zhao (Tue,) studied this question.