Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It

(Paperback, New edition)

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Blockchain Radicals uncovers the radical political potential of the blockchain, showing how it can be used by the left in the fight against capitalism. The blockchain is often understood only in its simplistic relationship to financial speculation and marketed as a way to onboard potential customers into the crypto economy. But what if it held a more radical potential that was waiting to be unlocked By moving past simply equating the blockchain with cryptocurrency and instead trying to understand what these tools do and how they work, Blockchain Radicals shows how the blockchain can be used by a left that is in need of new ideas in its struggle to create a better world for all. Steering between boosters on the right and cynics on the left, it shows us how the blockchain is a space where new post-capitalist strategies and collectives are already emerging. Questioning all the assumptions we have about currencies, markets, information, politics, and its limitations, the blockchain allows us to begin moving past the question of why the future has seemed to be standing still for so long.

Reviews

"The guide to crypto for people who care about justice more than tech. Dvila does not treat blockchains as salvation or abomination, as most commentators have. Rather, he shows it is an opportunity, and a set of choicesa chance to build a radically freer world or a virtual enclosure. Here is a crypto-compass crypto for anti-dystopians."
"Taking the capitalism out of anarcho-capitalist technology in order to claim it for the left is no mean feat but Blockchain Radicals does this and more. A must-read for anyone hoping to extend their theoretical and practical reach in the era of hyper-financialization.
"A fascinating, provocative, and illuminating view on blockchains that makes a strong case for taking them seriously as a possible tool of liberation."
Stripped of ideological presuppositions, blockchain technologies offer both a spectacular technical exploration of value itself and some of the concrete tools we need to build a new world in the face of the looming capitalist crisis. If he was alive today, I am certain Marx himself would be eagerly reading this book."

Author Bio

Joshua Davila has been working in the blockchain space for the past five years in Europe and has been anonymously moonlighting as the one behind The Blockchain Socialist blog and podcast. He is also the co-director of the upcoming documentary Crypto Futures which explores the alternative economic imaginaries of the crypto ecosystem that the mainstream media doesn't cover.