In 2008, the global financial crisis sparked investor interest in gold, particularly among survivalists and preppers. These gold bugs were often extremely libertarian, and it was through talking to them that I started thinking seriously about Bitcoin. As a democratic socialist, I was interested in crypto’s potential to organize non-state social and economic alliances, from mutual aid groups, to bail funds, to new models for funding technology development. This year, Joshua Dávila, the creator of the Twitter account and podcast The Blockchain Socialist, is publishing his first book, Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It, which explores the potential of crypto to redefine the commons and revivify economic justice. Dávila says, My book is not necessarily meant to answer the question of ‘what is blockchain socialism.’ What I was trying to do with this book is deconstruct the way people think about blockchains…and show how those mental models are flawed. The book is an exploratory essay, introducing basic crypto concepts and providing concise introductions to historical events in crypto. It also pushes back against the reductive condemnation of crypto from neoliberal centrists, and explores the potential of DAO-like structures and smart contracts for building new kinds of cooperative businesses. Blockchain Radicals is about opening minds to a broader set of possibilities in crypto than you’re ever likely to encounter in mainstream media. As Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin said, it is an important complement to existing narratives in crypto.
Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It
