Bitcoin For Socialists? | ArtiFact 56: Joshua Davila, Alex Sheremet

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency are a hotbed for right-wing ideologues, but Joshua Davila argues this technology is not going away and ought to be used for left-wing activism. Bitcoin, for example, is not inherently capitalistic, while projects on Ethereum and other protocols have been more exploratory and experimental. In ArtiFact 56, Alex and Josh discuss the concept of blockchain, why it’s valuable, on-chain models for political organization, NFTs as supportive of, and destructive to, genuine art, and expose crypto-idiots and other unsavory personalities. You can also watch this conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/un8jqcrQ70k

Buy Joshua Davila’s “Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It” – https://www.amazon.com/Blockchain-Radicals-Building-Beyond-Capitalism/dp/1914420853

Joshua’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/TBSocialist

To get the B Side to this conversation, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/automachination

B Side topics: left vs. right-wing conceptions of personal responsibility; every crypto Twitter ad is a scam; account abstraction for added security; froth vs. fundamental value; how crypto adds a premium; investment vs. utility; Alex: most of my crypto acquaintances are sociopaths; why Alex hesitates to release his art as NFTs; bitcoin ordinals encourage spam art; the art world has been scamming for centuries; NFTs place anti-art expectations upon artists; Solana’s Degen Poet is like a 10 year old; art as money laundering; hypocrisy in the art world; Josh: most art does not have value; why Alex is annoyed by DCInvestor.eth; how NFTs work and why they will NOT go away; NFTs add inalienable rights on top of authentication; why Josh rejects digital scarcity; crypto idiots: Balaji Srinivasan makes a $1 million bitcoin bet; debunking the Network State; Roger Ver gets imprisoned over pipe bombs; bitcoin and energy consumption; crypto “walking” apps and greenwashing; Bill Ackman won’t be getting laid for months

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Timestamps:

0:42 – introducing Josh Davila’s "Blockchain Radicals"; understanding crypto, blockchain, and bitcoin is critical for left-wingers; the bitcoin ETF; cryptocurrency at an inflection point; right-wing vs. left-wing conceptions of monetary debasement

11:25 – is bitcoin dead for left-wing projects; how WikiLeaks and SciHub leveraged bitcoin against financial sanctions; the inflation hedge argument; why bitcoin is not “money”

21:24 – beyond financialization in blockchain; markets vs. commoditization; human nature and incentive structures; the value proposition of blockchain; the implications of crypto-mediated ownership; why the Tezos hicetnunc NFT marketplace imploded; how crypto adoption is a regressive tax; Stalin and cryptocurrency; open source crypto projects; how NFTS are misunderstood

38:42 – how crypto cultivates certain audiences; post-capitalist blockchains; the Uniswap airdrop vs. government stimulus; private, public power; why Joshua used the DAI stablecoin over USDC for Breadchain

46:30 – privacy and digital identities in crypto; why Joshua took time to dox himself; how anonymity can build trust; cryptocurrency businesses invade privacy even more than generic corporations; crypto dystopias; the tendency towards centralization; how the creator of ProtonMail made Alex change his mind on Monero & other private cryptocurrencies

58:57 – crypto as a double-edged sword; there is no “obvious” answer on anti-state privacy; how states leverage financial sanctions; code is law vs. social consensus; the 2016 Ethereum DAO hack and Ethereum classic; if bitcoin were banned, bitcoin would be legitimated; bitcoin ordinals vs. bitcoin maximalists

01:07:09 – Ethereum philosophy = Ethereum innovation; users of Ethereum Classic get the Darwin Award; is Vitalik Buterin a socialist; Heavy Bags: why right-wing goldbugs hate bitcoin; patron show preview

Tags: #bitcoin #crypto #politics