The complicated politics of crypto and web3
Libertarian dream, or socialist Utopia?
“IT’S VERY attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly,” wrote Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, in an email in 2008 to Hal Finney, a developer, describing the appeal of the “e-cash” he planned to launch. The attraction stemmed from bitcoin’s potential role as a currency free from verification by centralised third parties and from oversight by governments. Bitcoin would instead be verified cryptographically and governed by its users.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Satoshi-alism”
Finance & economics April 16th 2022
- Xi Jinping’s bold plan for China’s next phase of innovation
- Consumer prices in America rise at their fastest pace since 1981
- Sri Lanka’s default could be the first of many
- The latest industry to suffer labour shortages: investment banking
- The complicated politics of crypto and web3
- What bigger military budgets mean for the economy
From the April 16th 2022 edition
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