Libertarians believe that the government should have, if not nothing at all, at least just a small interference in the lives and finances of the citizens. The cryptocurrency community believes in a monetary system free from centralized oversight.
A system with decisions that are driven directly by the concerned people rather than third party regulators. Even though not everyone thinks the same, it is a fact that thanks to blockchain, methods of monetization through the web have changed. Including crowdfunding and mining that has become an expression of libertarianism as a social-economic movement and philosophy of thinking as well.
A fundamental rethinking of value was promoted by the invention of bitcoin - as the world’s first cryptocurrency - and the current wave of decentralization and economic freedom. This new value pretended to incise in many aspects of life. But the assimilation of blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been particularly difficult to assimilate due to the difficult concepts behind it and the counter ideals.
Is blockchain and cryptocurrencies for everyone?
The urban designer Adam Greenfield (in the book Radical Technologies) calls cryptocurrency and blockchain the first technology that’s “just fundamentally difficult for otherwise intelligent and highly capable people to understand.” Usually, cryptocurrencies are hard to grasp because it’s almost like technology from an alien civilization. This means that those who get involved with it and discover its utility tent to be seen has smart people.
From an ordinary point of view, fiat money would be sufficient or considered to be enough to fulfill any common life issue. But currency troubles market anarchists, those who believe they should be free to choose to pay the way they want, to anyone, from any place and at any time they decide. The state does not seem to be an ally of the libertarian thought and of course, the central banks that control the money supply and the way the commerce flows among people and countries are entities of the state.
Freedom in the sense of a libertarian does not go along with bank centralization. Digital currencies attempt to provide a technological alternative to currency and banking that is somehow tainting the pure individualism and will of the people.
Some would describe this as “the anarch capitalism ideal”. This fact creates somehow a differentiation between those who trust the government and does who don't. Both sides of the coin being interested in the possibilities of blockchain. But libertarians eagerly state that they have been the first ones to fall in love.
Libertarians agree
According to The New York Times, libertarians and anarchists were attracted to the idea since the beginning because the concept itself was libertarian in its most basic sense. From its inception, bitcoin has had libertarian connotations.
Even Satoshi Nakamoto wrote on one occasion “It’s very attractive to the libertarian viewpoint if we can explain it properly" and he wasn't wrong. Roger Ver, an early bitcoin supporter said: "At first, almost everyone who got involved did so for philosophical reasons. We saw bitcoin as a great idea, as a way to separate money from the state." Then it is clear that blockchain technology and subsequently cryptocurrencies have become since the beginning in an unwilling expression of libertarianism.
Yet, we cannot say that everything has been cheering for bitcoin, The Economist describes bitcoin as "a techno-anarchist project to create an online version of cash, a way for people to transact without the possibility of interference from malicious governments or banks" But it seems that for this same reason the use of bitcoin can be criminalized. Even though the legal status of bitcoin varies substantially from country to country and is still undefined or changing in many of them, the regulations and bans have been great and such regulations had extended to similar cryptocurrency systems. Then, instead of reaching its potential and get everyone to like it, it is the weapon some people use and others fear.
The problem
The Library of Congress stated that an "absolute ban" on trading or using cryptocurrencies applies in eight countries already: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. An "implicit ban" applies in another 15 countries: The Dominican Republic, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Taiwan, Iran, Kuwait, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macau, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, and China. Then it makes us think, is there a way in which blockchain and cryptocurrencies can express libertarianism in the best sense of the word? and the answer is yes.
To bring the political matter to the table is just a small fraction of the issue. Blockchain does not only intervene with money but also with information/data management. Individuals, the property they own, the contracts into which they enter to exchange that property, and a market to facilitate that exchange. Cargo movement even medical information, among other examples. The things that are implicated in the process of exchanges in that market and much more. All of them are part of the focus of improvement in the eyes of blockchain.
A blockchain account can provide functions other than making payments, or creating cryptocurrencies. Decentralized applications and smart contracts are just other very useful tools to develop life common matters. Token creation, for example, has reached the crowdfunding world now to extend its usability and improve the way it has been done. Blockchain can, and hopefully will take care of many processes that had been centralized. Methods of monetization on the web, like crowdfunding and mining are taking a whole new course thanks to it.
The solution
Like any new technology or innovation, it takes time for the people to get to know it, get used to it and also learn how to work with it. Can you imagine how it was before? When the first phone message was sent people couldn’t imagine how it was going to be just a few years later. Blockchain is not just new technology and it is not just another platform or app. Blockchain is a whole new way of diversifying power. It is making things more accessible to normal people, in spite of their social and economic status.
MintMe, as a crowdfunding platform based on blockchain technology, is the new wave of real freedom in exchange. But at the same time, it unifies security and it reduces the possibilities of scams, fraud or counterfeit.
Regardless of what many could say, for cryptocurrencies to become a viable reserve currency, the first thing that needs to happen is for a viable process of price discovery in the currency markets and subsequent stability in price, which can, of course, be possible if more useful projects like mintMe take place in the market. But this process takes time, very normal in such a nascent industry. And like Sahdev said: "The technology adoption lifecycle can serve as a useful framework to understand the adoption of any new product or innovation, including cryptocurrencies and the underlying technology, blockchain."
Crowdfunding to succeed
Some people have pretended to decipher the political assumptions that inspired Blockchain technology. Still, at this point, freedom is not something that tires off. Whether you want to go political or not the blockchain is in its nature a libertarian construct: It does away with the need for an intermediary in transactions, allowing people to have complete control of their assets.
This is precisely what MintMe looks forward to. It is also what gives mintMe's crowdfunding platform a way to succeed. Among so many centralized, insecure, slow and expensive platforms, mintMe answers to this all in its integrity. Providing innumerable benefits to token creators and buyers.
- No intermediaries (no banks nor any third party can impose their rules)
- A greater level of autonomy for merchants (everyone can choose what to buy, how much and when)
- No middleman fees (Unlike other platforms, mintMe offers direct connections, with very small fees)
- A greater level of privacy for customers. (Your information is secured)
- International transactions (As long as no ban is applied, the world is mintMe's home)
- A new level of protection against counterfeit and fraudulent purchases.
Let's enjoy decentralization and the liberties it provides, with the security and the effectiveness of blockchain technology.
By Mary Schwartz