[P2P-F] Fwd: Crypto Criticism, Part Two
Michel Bauwens
michelsub2004 at gmail.com
Mon Jan 3 16:31:13 CET 2022
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Daniel Pinchbeck from Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter <
danielpinchbeck at substack.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 3, 2022 at 12:31 AM
Subject: Crypto Criticism, Part Two
To: <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>
Confronting the Left's negative critique of
cryptocurrency
Crypto Criticism, Part Two
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxdksGOmzAQhp8m3IiMMWAffFglippoQxp11eyekDEDMQGDjCnQp69Jemkl2-P5Z8Yj-RspLFSdWXjfDdZbj8wuPXAN09CAtWC8cQCTqYLHMUsQol7BSRHQiHpqyEoD0ArVcGtG8Poxb5QUVnV6LcCUUeLduYzzEhJWlBFjZYAREwmTYYRKWpKY4PLVVoyFAi2Bwy8wS6fBa_jd2n7YhG8bfHCrEFpB0yst7znIx3YY88EKd5Fd68K929Isve18aZRVUg2t3wtjfTt1m_BguwfoTbiH5RRI_HP5xM3jWHc4rR_hef9G3nenKQ9T9FdHaX0NL_sruuwmJW4H5LTZafP547rG1vxehmd1UaepuB3tua4il6-c_tv5T3197_3z1HzdUiRubDxqtP1-3GEo2bdgbnyftbNff4nkI8WXOcr1tE_jvHkUUP_YycFTHCOMUYBwkISIoC3eMiyjGNE4QRAxyKMtjELNepQbgtoK__MrnuGtkndonIgRIi6lWnE9Y45W5mw7amWXDLTIGyheIO1rHJ5oswo0GDcmRSYsD2ISBMRhoyGlL3COtPMTSgj1XJ-ic1Wa_wfrD6TozxE>Confronting
the Left's negative critique of cryptocurrency
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxNkMFuhCAQhp9mua0ZcEQ8cOilr2EQZpUsokFo69uXXZOmCYEZYPLn-6zJNG_p1Pt2ZPbaxnzupCN9H4FypsTKQWn0Tks59ACKOY2Oq04xf4yPRLQaH3ROhdhepuCtyX6LrwGhBoVs0W0vwSBgZx848Vo7Dg55LztDchqGK9YU5yla0vRF6dwisaCXnPfj1n7cxGddR5mObOyzsdta2z1tDx-oVqIXSg7t3ZnoKdx3H-0ykX0yrwUIARwE71tAaEQzCNtJULIH6gaauoaK8T-x2BvCOovmfwhLevV2oVAvBQDWL_OL9v1WYcd6riX6fI4UzRTIXR7yZfNtZpwpUqqW3Wiy5hI5R5SoWqUu7iqq9r1CVKzmuK1ORX2h_JH8AjdzjWU>
Daniel Pinchbeck
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxNkMFuhCAQhp9mua0ZcEQ8cOilr2EQZpUsokFo69uXXZOmCYEZYPLn-6zJNG_p1Pt2ZPbaxnzupCN9H4FypsTKQWn0Tks59ACKOY2Oq04xf4yPRLQaH3ROhdhepuCtyX6LrwGhBoVs0W0vwSBgZx848Vo7Dg55LztDchqGK9YU5yla0vRF6dwisaCXnPfj1n7cxGddR5mObOyzsdta2z1tDx-oVqIXSg7t3ZnoKdx3H-0ykX0yrwUIARwE71tAaEQzCNtJULIH6gaauoaK8T-x2BvCOovmfwhLevV2oVAvBQDWL_OL9v1WYcd6riX6fI4UzRTIXR7yZfNtZpwpUqqW3Wiy5hI5R5SoWqUu7iqq9r1CVKzmuK1ORX2h_JH8AjdzjWU>
Jan 2
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<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxVUsuupCAQ_Zp2p-GlwoLFzSTzG6aA0iat4ADevj1fP6irSUi9oOoUdcpCwSWmj95jLs0ppvLZUQd85xVLwdQcGdPknR4GNRIiG6eFo7KXjc_TnBA38Ksu6cBmP8zqLRQfw5nApJKieWrOFUXKQLK-n7ljzorB9BSooLOdjbhh4XAeg0WN35g-MWCz6mcpe37wrwf7XY91ocuHyQXsq7NxqyG_wYJVz1js89S1TIkP9uvPbfCvJUZX_Xmd9hSXhDn7b6zxXBD3mnFDsP4E6U-YKsxhX1jvU4ukN8ZK0RoA3go-Yqt6KltwhjOD41h_2GXewQZ_Y4B3vvuqNe5ZXObVZL5MtOiQK2hBAm0FQ9PCTFWrjFHUDMoJDhNX40-ddPdGszdeM8IYoYTRkRNBOtYpZvuByGEk2Cs0fYcH-J9w2Icg28L-m1GT9ObtE9caZISI-mQ5Cbvuao9T1dsRfPlMGMCs6G4qy70QF7nTggFTXRQ3QdF0EJQKMQjJpbypq1xXf5RCyKbiuFizgnYQPK67D_Zp0L7-AWB1yhQ>
Sterling
Crispin, *Property*, 2021
Critical Paths
In the last part of this essay, I considered a few of the main criticisms
of cryptocurrency coming from the traditional Left. To review:
Leftists argue that cryptocurrencies are not actually a new form of money –
a universal unit of exchange for purchasing goods and services – but mainly
function as speculative assets that are highly volatile and prey to market
manipulation, such as “pump and dump” and “rug pulling¹” schemes. Leftists
think that cryptocurrencies, in general, increase the “financialization” of
the economy (the movement away from producing goods to trading complex
financial products) as well as the privatization of public goods or
commonly held resources. They believe these ongoing trends have caused
negative outcomes over the last half century, such as Structural Adjustment
Programs in the developing world and the 2008 crash of the global financial
system.
Not just Leftist critics but critics from across the political spectrum —
including both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump – warn that cryptocurrency
may disrupt fiat currency as money becomes privatized. The private creation
of money-like tokens could lead to increasing wealth inequality as more
people “invest” their money into crypto (or, in other words, get swindled
by crypto scams). It could disempower governments without providing any
better answer to our social and environmental needs.
Traditional Leftists (socialists and communists) believe that national
governments should maintain control over the creation of money. Hence, the
Leftist project should focus on reforming government, as someone like
Bernie Sanders wants to do. Structural inequality can be addressed using
traditional techniques like taxation – increasing taxes on corporations and
the wealthy and then redistributing capital through social programs – or
even reparations, where money is given to indigenous people and the
contemporary descendants of former slaves, to ameliorate unjust legacies.
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In *The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right Wing Extremism*, David
Golumbia argues that the design of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have
an intrinsic Libertarian bias – that this political ideology is “encoded in
the software itself.” Crypto is a way to avoid regulation and taxation, and
ultimately bring down governments which, Libertarians believe, limit human
freedom. Golumbia writes that Bitcoin’s core proponents seek an “anarchic
apocalypse” to put governments out of business: “This, in the end, is the
extreme rightist—anarcho-capitalist, winner-take-all, even neo-feudalist—
political vision too many of those in the Bitcoin (along with other
cryptocurrency) and blockchain communities, whatever they believe their
political orientation to be, are working actively to bring
about.” Traditional Leftists like Golumbia want a strong centralized State
but one aimed at their goals: Wealth redistribution, demilitarization,
protection of civil rights, and universal social programs.
Yet, in a country like the US, it doesn’t seem possible to overcome the
entrenched inertia of the system, which is beholden to corporate power and
the financial elite. The people no longer trust the government and seek
alternatives. Out of frustration, many are embracing Right Wing
authoritarianism. Any significant challenge to our current
political-economic system must come from outside of it — from the private
sector or from hackers in the tech world. Blockchain-based technologies can
redefine the creation and distribution of both economic value and political
power. Rather than rejecting them, we should use them to build something
new.
Critics also note that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are
environmentally destructive. Bitcoin mining uses an incredible amount of
energy – more than a country like Sweden, or more than all of the solar
panels currently operating in the world. Bitcoin investors and promoters
will argue around this point in a number of ways. For instance they will
insist that the Bitcoin mining industry is somehow leading the way in
accessing renewable sources of energy, such as hydro-power. But this
doesn’t hide the reality of the ruinous impact of “proof of work” mining.
All of the energy going into solving complex mathematical puzzles could be
used, instead, for actual necessities, at a time when we must radically
reduce CO2 output or face imminent planetary catastrophe. (Of course, some
on the Libertarian Right still insist, all evidence to the contrary, that
anthropogenic global warming is a myth or a Deep State conspiracy).
Ethereum is currently in the process of transitioning from “proof of work”
to “proof of stake” mining, which requires far less energy. But this has
not yet been accomplished. Critics such as Michel Bauwens and Alex
Pazaitis, in a recent report for the P2P Foundation, argue that there are
inherent problems with both modes of maintaining distributed ledgers: “Both
proof-of-work and proof-of-stake protocols do not present fair mechanisms
for the distribution of power in decision-making. Proof-of-work creates
soaring demands in energy and processing power… proof of stake is
explicitly based on ownership of stakes, which represents the outcome of
the very same unequally-distributed underlying dynamics” found throughout
Capitalism with its hierarchical power structures.
One of the main terms used to promote cryptocurrency adoption is
“decentralization.” Yet critics argue that this ideal of decentralization
is both a bit of a fraud and problematic in a number of ways. Some critics
make an analogy to the way “democratization” was used to promote the
adoption of Web2.0 technologies such as social networks and blogging. In
the end, it is unclear if these tools have promoted democratic values.
Authoritarian movements and regimes make effective use of them and appear
to be growing around the world. Similarly, decentralization could easily
lead to a recentralization, through Central Bank issued digital currencies
or by other means.
Critics argue that promoting decentralization as a goal of the movement is
misleading in a few different ways. One problem is that certain aspects of
the creation and distribution of cryptocurrencies tend to become more
centralized over time. For example, originally it was possible for
individuals to mine Bitcoin on their personal computers. As the network
grew, it required more computing power to perform its ongoing calculations.
Bitcoin creation is now mainly done by a small number of huge, centralized
mining operations who, presumably, have a great deal of influence over the
network.
As ‘Amazon’s Server Outage Took Down a ‘Decentralized’ Crypto Exchange
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkc2OhCAMgJ9muGkQUfHAYS_7Ggaho2SwGCzruE-_uJM0bfrffLWGYInp0ns8iN1qomsHjXAeAYggsXxAmrzTfT8OnCvmtHSN6hTzx_RMAJvxQVPKwPY8B28N-Yh3g1CjkmzVsm-5gHlsn1xI2Y1GgrSiMU4926ZXw2etyc4DWtDwA-mKCCzolWg_Hu3XQ3wXOc-z_vEWahu34gIWZRJ5G-DOvh2-rzu0md-IR1XOLpOqmMksUFGMr8rFEytTObCAlEzwv-Aqm66dYgVvuxpcgHktuBC84aIZWi55LepR2K7nqh84dCPMXQ3Z-Ddm-5B8W0R95PkgY1_3ZSzpzdsVQgkKzmUpWW5E_7lCaCp2y-jpmgDNHMB94NHnBf84pwUQUnmNmwzpppdNI2UvVavUB1ahW_xBSalY2eNi6ULtDHoIu0e7zmBff5pOon4>,’
an article from Vice reveals, many of the so-called decentralized tokens
and exchanges rely on highly centralized infrastructure, such as Amazon’s
Web Services (AWS). They are thus prone to failure or potentially can be
targeted for attack. The article notes: “It's clear that the
"decentralized" part of "decentralized finance" has a bit to go in some
cases, and Amazon's cloud dominance is now pretty much a core part of the
web, whether that's web1, 2, or 3. And that can cause all sorts of
problems.”
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While Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies are not as decentralized as they
seem to be, they are also not devoid of internal political battles, which
was supposed to be another selling point. Crypto-economics holds out the
vision of a world where messy political contests are unnecessary because
the purity of the code resolves such dilemmas. Yet in actuality, many
cryptocurrencies reach points in their development where complex decisions
must be made through traditional political means, with factions of
stakeholders holding emergency summits and frantic Zoom calls to piece the
thing back together.
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxVUt2OpSAMfprjnQahKF5wMdlkX8PwUz1kFFzAmTn79FuPV5uQ_kH7lX51puKa8ksfqdTmEnN9HagjfpcNa8XcnAXzHLwehmlkTDVeg--VVE0o85IRdxM2XfOJzXHaLThTQ4pXAleTguapJcCg2OSV5QsXHBc-WFATd8ZAr4y9Yc3pA0aHGr8wv1LEZtPPWo_yEB8P_puO87Erpy3VuM_OpZ1CYTcrkl6wuuelqUxND_7rz22IjzUlT_6yzUdOa8ZSwhdSvFTEgzJuCC4vEHnBkLCn-0S6zy0yaa1T0FpjRAtixHaSvWqNt4JbHEf6YVdEZ3bzN0XzXe6-qMY9i7f5brK8TcW9cgDQCkZVYFp8O_UcWyU5CDeY3shx7hmHn0t0R1yboDnjnJHfj4IB63hHo5MDU8PIUE5oZYenCT_xdA9g-8r_G1KT9R7cEzcKcsaAnqwXY-87anImvZ8x1NeM0dgN_c1lvTfize68YsRMm-JnU3U_QN8TpaCEUjd3RDb5owJQDeH4RFlRexMDbkeI7mnRff4DCMPINw>
Cards
of Entropy, an NFT by PAK, an anonymous artist who sold a collection at
Sotheby’s for $17 million in April.
Blockchain Leftism
On the other side of this argument, there are some who believe that
blockchain-based innovations are necessary. They can reinvent our economic
and political systems to be far more equitable and ecologically
regenerative. A number of new projects are working in this direction. I
will briefly mention a couple of initiatives here. I hope to look at these
projects – among others – more closely in future newsletters.
P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival
This report from the P2P Foundation
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkc-OgyAQxp-m3NYgouKBQy89b7IPYHAYLVkEgtCub7_TNiHzj_nyJb8BU3CL-dQpHoW9wlzOhDrg8_BYCmZWD8yzs3oYppFzxayWtlW9Yu6Y14y4G-d1yRVZqot3YIqL4SUQalKS3TVYtUhpwK4jX3ExXS-NXMTEBQIo0X1sTbUOA6DGB-YzBmRe30tJx6W7XsSNXhJpjTXYt0ETsNDsmb4ghoLh1dTko7EHVYK3EyU-ULgCkKq4sN1i_vaGhCafPzU_3MP42eLaJLsypwUXpOOiHTsueSOaSUA_cDWMHPsJl77BatxfqHCRfN9Ec9TlKAZ-G4g7y3p3cEdPQ8G5pJXtReb9R2BmynsNrpwzBrN4tB9m5UP-TXHeMGCmi9jZFN0Osm2lHKTqlPowIqjUj0pKxcjHRlIFbU1w6JMLcF8Qfv8BCxWe5Q>
focuses on ways that blockchain-based technologies can be the backbone of a
profound redesign of society. According to the authors, the current
political-economy of capitalism combines “strategies of artificial scarcity
and pseudo abundance in a way that increase[s] social injustice and
inequality”:
*The idea of pseudo abundance is based on the mistaken premise of infinite
material growth on a finite planet, where natural resources are actually
fundamentally limited. Artificial scarcity refers to the strategies that
prevent the sharing of technological and scientific progress because of
excessively restrictive intellectual property rights. A sensible
alternative is, of course, to recognize the limits of what we can use from
the world of nature, of which we are an intrinsic part, and to allow for
the sharing of all knowledge that can contribute to living within the
limits of this ‘biocapacity.’*
Capitalism forces ongoing competition for survival that could have been
made obsolete by now. Exploitation of natural resources, emissions of
greenhouse gases and other pollution are turned into externalities outside
of its financial calculus. Capitalism engineers artificial scarcity – of
intellectual property as well as basic necessities such as housing, food,
and healthcare – to perpetuate itself.
The solution to this, the report argues, is what they call: “Commons-Based
Peer Production.” Our future should revolve around “a new mode of
production and exchange, where communities create shared value through open
contributory systems, govern their common work through participatory
practices, and create shared resources that can, in turn, be used in new
iterations.” This new commons-based structure, the authors propose, can be
mediated by blockchain-based distributed technologies, or further
iterations of distributed ledgers, such as Holochain.
The report discusses a number of blockchain-based projects that can support
the transition to a new social model based on commons-based peer
production. These include Envienta, FabChain, DAOStack, Faircoin,
Trustlines, Regen Network, and so on. Such tools “emphasize the elements of
openness and cooperation, keeping locally-determined socio-ecological
conditions in mind, involving mutualization, circulation and reuse of
resources and outputs in integrated systems.” The new systems of “mutual
coordination” must take place within the limits of defined planetary
boundaries, requiring a “planning framework” based on how much of a given
resource can be utilized without causing long-term harm.
Holochain
One technology they point to is Holochain. I have been struggling to
understand Holochain for a few years now. The authors of the P2P report
write that Holochain “reimagines distributed ledgers altogether based on
principles derived from biomimicry.” Rather than seeking to build a
mathematically perfect structure that eliminates the need for trust between
humans, Holochain applies the concept of a “web of trust”: “If A trusts B
and B trusts C, then trust can be assured among all the peers.” Holochain
“uses mutual credit as its main mechanism for exchange of value,” and seeks
to limit the decision-making clout of big investors. Holochain, as I
understand it, is not a blockchain technology but a parallel system
designed in such a way that it addresses the Libertarian biases inherent in
most crypto projects, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Proof of Humanity / Democracy.Earth
Proof of Humanity
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkMmOhCAURb-mWBpEQFiw6E39hmF4KikFw9C2f99YJuSRN96ca3WBJaZLHTEXdIepXAeoAGfeoBRIqGZIk3eKczliLJBT1PWCCeTzNCeAXftNlVQBHdVs3uriY7gXiJCColVJwQbOueBGWybdTHvDBCa9lkxraeZHVlfnIVhQ8AvpigHQptZSjvwafl7k3d55nt2RYpzjvNZdB1-uzjvkFcGE4L5dHAdMcUc6SSzjWPARA5NgWAdV-79Q7YvifSFdriYXbT-djTtKavd2ha0VCca0jSw30rfXiKb27_UWmyBos4F7YMtj2Rd_WiBAala6SRfVc9r3lHIqBiEeuOZGy0dBqUBNx8W2FZRrDLAdPtjVgP38A-5ohc0>
seeks to address one of the core problems of the Internet – in fact, the
essential flaw that led to the current catastrophe in which corporations
like Google and Facebook control our personal data and sell it to
advertisers as their product. The problem is that the founders of the
Internet didn’t develop protocols around personal identity. The original
pioneers were scientists and engineers who developed the basic Internet
protocols for purposes of research and sharing information. Personal
identity was not their focus.
When I started my company, Evolver, back in 2007, we wanted to address this
problem of identity by implementing technologies that were being developed
back then, such as the Identity Commons. The idea was to flip the logic of
the Internet: Each user would have a secure holder for their identity and
personal data. They would be able to choose what parts of their identity
they wanted to share with any company or organization – instead of
corporations building “walled silos” to data-mine their user base. But the
financial incentives supporting the current extractive model were too
powerful to allow for alternatives.
With Proof of Humanity, you undergo a verification process designed to
prove you are a human being, not a Bot or AI. Once you have successfully
passed the registration process, you start to receive a regular Universal
Basic Income (UBI). I am not sure exactly how the funds for the UBI are
generated, but apparently it amounts to several hundred dollars per month.
This is already making a major difference in the lives of old people in
Latin America who are signing up for it. If Proof of Humanity is scalable,
it could help to bring about a more egalitarian restructuring of society.
Conclusion
Instead of rejecting blockchain-based tokenomics as a regressive social
force and dismissing its utility for progressive or socialist goals,
Leftists should actively experiment with this technology. While it is true
that crypto has largely succeeded because it mobilizes people based on
individual self-interest, the technical capacities that are being unleashed
through cryptocurrency innovation could be implemented to bring about the
commons-based peer-production model proposed by the P2P Foundation. I am
not sure what other approach makes sense, if current governments cannot be
fundamentally changed.
In George Monbiot’s recent essay, Surface Tension
<https://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlUEuOhSAQPM1jNwYRARcsZjPXMAitkqdg-Izj7ad9JqQ6FNUpqqwpsMR06SPmQm4Yy3WADnDmDUqBRGqGNHqnhRgkpYo4zV2rekV8HucEsBu_6ZIqkKNOm7em-BjuBaYGxcmq29lIDr0wHbUzMzNI2Q1CSiHATVNHH1tTnYdgQcMvpCsGIJteSznyq_t-sR8853k2ewyTj6WxcUeGUdbiaG-gDCHXNBsLXwVCxl8gQ7xGFaMtSmVHOW1YMzDbC6qEpNAPMPUNVOP_QrUvTveFNblOuRj7vl1I0ru3K2xIMko5SpY78ecNA4849xp8uUYIZtrAPV2Up9FPO-MCARI27UZTdCt423IuuOqUerJjWXiXinNF0MdF3ArameBhO3yw6wT2_Q_hY43V>,
he writes: “Human civilisation relies on current equilibrium states. But,
all over the world, crucial systems appear to be approaching their tipping
points. If one system crashes, it is likely to drag others down, triggering
a cascade of chaos known as systemic environmental collapse.” He explores
why we are unable, as a society, to address the ecological emergency. We
retreat, instead, into distractions and various forms of escapism.
Monbiot proposes we need “limitarianism”: A movement to limit excesses of
wealth as well as excesses of poverty. We also must strengthen the commons
while reducing destructive economic activity: “While there is not enough
ecological or even physical space on Earth for everyone to enjoy private
luxury, there is enough to provide everyone with public luxury: magnificent
parks, hospitals, swimming pools, art galleries, tennis courts and
transport systems, playgrounds and community centers.”
Monbiot believes our only hope is mass disobedience. But a more
sophisticated and perhaps more important form of disobedience involves
building the new social infrastructure needed for the transition. This —
rather than trading speculative assets — may be where blockchain-based
systems for exchanging value become meaningful and even necessary for
humanity’s future. At the same time, I am wary of the tendency of utopian
ideals to function as covert propaganda for Capitalist schemes, as we have
seen again and again in recent history. We saw it with the thwarted
promises of Web2.0. However, this may be a point where the future is up for
grabs, and we need more capable, well-intentioned people working on
theoretical and practical implementation.
Daniel Pinchbeck’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive
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Please
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up the new audiobook version of 2012 here
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- 50% off for paid subscribers. This is my metaphysical epic, originally
published in 2006.
BUY THE 2012 AUDIOBOOK
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1
A “rug pull” is when the founder of a crypto-related enterprise disappears,
usually taking all of the funds with them.
Like
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