Has the crypto revolution failed?
Has the crypto revolution failed?
The future of France and the future of Finance are not that different
From Ben Hunt’s blog
The collapse of the Terra/Luna crypto ecosystem, along with the general carnage in crypto more generally over the past few weeks, got me thinking. Not so much about the crypto price movements and the misbegotten Ponzi scheme of Terra/Luna per se (although yes), but more about the structure of the crypto “industry” and what it has become.
I thought a lot about Orwell’s other classic – Animal Farm – and the final scene where all the animals who had followed Napoleon the Pig’s orders to rise up against their human masters look through the windows of the farmhouse where the Pig leadership took up residence.
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
(…)
If you don’t see that the crypto “industry” has become just as blindingly corrupt, just as oozingly fatuous, just as profoundly captured by the Nudging Oligarchy as the traditional financial services industry it was supposed to replace … well, you’re just not paying attention.
Has the “crypto revolution” failed? Has the “bitcoin revolution” failed?
Have we become exactly what Satoshi initially was fighting against? Just another part of the establishment, just another way the people in power remain in power?
Yes and no.
On Revolutions
Asking if the crypto revolution failed is like asking if the French Revolution failed.
The French Revolution started to take this guy from the throne:
And after a long period of internal conflict, ended up putting this other guy on the throne:
Can you spot the difference?
Me neither. So it really depends how you frame the question.
If your point was to create a true democracy, get rid of any tyrants and give power directly to the people, making everyone free, equal, fraternal — Liberté, Egalité et Fraternité — yes it failed.
If your point was to actually make the former aristocracy less dominant and move humankind to a path of increasing equality of opportunity over the next centuries — it could be seen as a success.
I’ll readily admit that crypto (now rebranded to “web3”) is evolving to become much more palatable to Wall Street, governments and the establishment. We actually celebrate the big brands, the Super Bowl ads, the institutions and billionaires who changed their minds and joined the party.
So I don’t necessarily mind the fact that the “revolution” has been captured. This is expected. Assimilation and creation of a watered down version of the purest ideals of the initial revolution is expected.
The question to me is different: are we moving in the right direction? Are we making society increasingly more open? Are we increasing productivity?
Ideals are great for manifestos and literature, but for better or worse, History is built on compromise.
See you tomorrow.