Why blockchain could be seen as a belief system?

[PRDAEcontact]

“In an interview with Fox Business on Tuesday, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon back-pedaled on his September claim that bitcoin is a fraud “worse than tulip bulbs”.He said “he regretted” making the remarks because they dismissed the technology in broad terms, adding “the blockchain is real. You can have crypto yen and dollars and stuff like that.””

“According to Bloomberg, Dimon “believes in blockchain” — a turn of phrase that speaks volumes about the state of the technology being advocated.”

Why blockchain could be seen as a belief system?

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[amishmanish]

The way Jamie Dimon believes in blockchain has got nothing to do with the belief systems that are at the foundation of bitcoin and blockchain. Jamie Dimon now "believes" in blockchain because maybe some tech guy told him that the technology of on-chain contract settlement has its uses in the financial world.

The real belief system behind bitcoin comes from asking yourself questions like:
1. Does a person deserve a lifetime of servitude, taxes and deprecation of his hard-earned money? See how being your own bank by holding bitcoin changes this.
2. Is it necessary for you to be profiled on the basis of what you eat, what you wear and what you say on the internet? See how buying things with an encrypted wallet rather than having a credit card history changes this.
3. Is it necessary for someone looking for funds to become subject to banks/ VCs for loans? See how the crowdfunding potential of bitcoin changes this.

The answer to these questions may tell us about "how blockchain can be a belief system". Its true that things are far from perfect at present but that is because too many of us late-comers are in this for the immediate gains and not for the change this is meant to be.

[HeRetiK]

In general I would argue that cryptocurrencies could be seen as a "belief system" in that most of them strive to achieve certain values that are usually not ascribed to money, such as indepence, privacy and censorship-resistance. Especially the latter seems to be a rather curious aspect to most people, as usually there's little thought spent on how money is not as free to move as one is led to believe.

Regarding Jamie Dimon however, I guess he just doesn't want to end up being the guy that said "the internet is a fad". The focus on the turn of phrase is likely due to the fact that the term blockchain has for the most part become devoid of actual meaning, making it an empty hull that could mean anything you make it out to be. It follows that the discourse becomes more a matter of "faith" than of meaningful arguments.