The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin

[cryptocurrencylive]

The (A)Political Economy of Bitcoin

Download Location: http://triple-c.at.dd29412.kasserver.com/index.php/tripleC/article/download/606/562

Abstract:

The still raging financial crisis of 2007–2008 has enabled the emergence of several alternative practices concerning the production, circulation, and use of money. This essay explores the political economy of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Specifically, we examine the context in which this digital currency is emerging as well as its nature, dynamics, advantages, and disadvantages. We conclude that Bitcoin, a truly interesting experiment, exemplifies “distributed capitalism” and should be mostly seen as a technological innovation. Rather than providing pragmatic answers and solutions to the current views on the financial crisis, Bitcoin provides some useful and timely questions about the principles and bases of the dominant political economy.
Keywords: Digital Currencies, Cryptocurrency, Commons, Bitcoin, Money, Open Source, P2P Money, Distributed

[justusranvier]

Bitcoin did not appear in a vacuum. It's always been part of a greater agenda, one that is opposed to that the authors of this paper adhere.

http://nakamotoinstitute.org/b-money/

I am fascinated by Tim May's crypto-anarchy. Unlike the communities traditionally associated with the word "anarchy", in a crypto-anarchy the government is not temporarily destroyed but permanently forbidden and permanently unnecessary. It's a community where the threat of violence is impotent because violence is impossible, and violence is impossible because its participants cannot be linked to their true names or physical locations.