The Meme of Bitcoin
Looking at the Rise and Rise of Bitcoin and the birth of the Blockchain as a separate field of research and entrepreneurial activity in its…
The Meme of Bitcoin
Looking at the Rise and Rise of Bitcoin and the birth of the Blockchain as a separate field of research and entrepreneurial activity in its aftermath, is a lesson learned in how to successfully bootstrap an idea, that is, frankly, quite radical in nature. Bitcoin started out as a harmless experiment in distributed computing and ended up as the most serious contender to some really deep-sitting notions of how the world works in a very long time.
Stop! you might shout. Bitcoin is ‘just’ a simplified payment system for the internet, nothing more but — of course — also nothing less. This, some argue, is enough of an achievement, no need to put your crazy pants on! Bitcoin means more convenient access to money transfers all over the globe. This is amazing!! Smart contracts? Go home!
Admittedly, I don’t know if such people exist. But if they did, they would be missing out on all the fun! True — the payment industry is certainly an important economic sector on its own and deserves the attention of bankers and human rights activists alike.[1]
But leaping over into the colorful world of semi- and non-financial applications of generalized blockchain technology and crypto economic protocols leads to an explosion of new ideas and surprisingly deep insights about the workings of how the world currently works.
Taking the ideas behind “Bitcoin 2.0” to their logical conclusion, brings about a vision of the world that is unlike anything anyone of us has ever seen or experienced before.
What is intellectually so appealing about the Meme of Bitcoin that once it has taken root in a human being’s brain, it tends to force the carrier down a certain behavioral path?
Footnotes
[1] Since the rise of city states and other early areas of intensive economic trade, economic inclusion in one’s local community has always been a fundamental building block of a fulfilled life. Local communities though, are shaped by the wider ecosystem they are embedded in, especially through the economic network to which access is — or is not — provided. Rarely are contemporary communities self-sustaining in a way that would isolate them from our global markets. DE SOTO et al
Exported from Medium on January 3, 2025.