Applied Crypto Anarchy
A post-hype, post-FTX, post-NFT, post-AI recap of what could have been the plan
This year I had to admit that my Russian-Ukrainian-American Trood business is over after 12 years of hard dedicated everyday work. It was not just done. It was exploded and fucked up. My last trial to dodge geopolitical debris by relaunching as an open Web3-powered platform in the Middle East became the icing on the cake of my cemetery party (it’s been a while since I’ve been writing this, so I might add مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّٰهُ the times are different now).
This summer I’ve got the hardest time I’ve ever had since I started. I’ve come through all the phases of accepting, I’ve self-isolated for almost 3 months, I thought and overthought, and thought again. Additionally to my personal and business retrospective, of course, it was inevitable to think about geopolitics and markets.
As an attempt to socialize back, I gave a small speech at #Web3 Wednesday in Dubai, by the kind invitation of Kloé Kong. The speech was about crypto adoption, and I briefly mentioned crypto anarchy as one of the things that we have been promised about, and seem to totally give up. This led to an interview on Web3 TV, where Markose Chenthitta challenged me to delve deeper into my thoughts about that, and so this article was initiated.
It took however a long time to finalize it. Firstly because I had my own self and my business to be rebuilt as the first priority. Secondly, this rebuilding resonated with the topic in such a way that I had to dig inside, refactor, and redescribe my thoughts several times before I could share them here.
To me, crypto anarchy might be perceived in two ways. It’s either marketing bullshit, or a pinnacle of human thought so far we could climb, in technology, economics, philosophy, psychology, religion, and corresponding matters (roughly everything). Since we already have enough material for the first approach, I would focus on the second.
If taken seriously, the matter is complex and still unsolved by anyone, so I will not even try to offer any solutions (as I am still concentrating on my own business), but I will allow myself to share my questions and perceptions.
Humanity has never had this much power in information. This is a great threat to a personality, as the information stakeholders hardly always pursue humanitarian interests. At the same time, this brings great opportunities to ones who are ready to push hard in searching for the pieces of truth.
I can not state that I am the one who knows the truth, but I am pretty sure I often can see what is not. I would like to share some of the not-so-good things I have noticed to make sure we are on the same page before proceeding:
I saw governments declaring diversity and tolerance while being extremely intolerant and aggressively anti-diverse
I saw dictatorships calling for justice, and Christian leaders calling for jihad
I saw people and families losing any anchors and reference points the under vast psychological experiences held by governments and corporations
I saw Babylon rising in different human faces, fighting against each other but bringing the same anti-humanitarian model
I've never considered myself an anarchist, at least not until I stumbled upon anarcho-capitalism. Like many, I sense that we might have been standing at the precipice of something monumental, and whether it's for good or ill may hinge on our choices.
In recent years, the rise of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has sparked a “revolutionary” movement known as "Crypto Anarchy." This movement is characterized by its belief in decentralization, individual freedom, and the use of cryptographic tools to achieve a stateless society. In here, I feel I need to explore the core tenets of Crypto Anarchy, its relationship with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, how it could have been used to challenge conventional political and social boundaries, and what’s, to my point of view, went wrong on this direction.
Crypto ideology and factology
Many individuals are drawn to the world of cryptocurrencies due to the promises outlined in promotional books, particularly those related to Bitcoin. Bitcoin, the pioneering cryptocurrency, has been hailed as a digital alternative to traditional fiat currencies, promising lower transaction fees, enhanced security, and financial privacy. Crypto promoters declared it as a potential pathway to financial freedom, emancipating individuals from the control of centralized authorities like banks and governments.
However, so far it seems to be mostly a trading instrument, which is pretty nice, though it’s kinda indicative and I would say ironic, that overall judgment about bitcoin is mostly based on how many dollars can you buy for it.
While Bitcoin is often pretended to be well understood, Ethereum and its smart contract capabilities remain underestimated by many. This technology has vast implications across various industries, including finance, identity management, voting systems, decentralized applications, and much more. However, some Crypto Anarchists lament the fact that Ethereum's significance has faded amidst the growing influence of AI.
Another concept that affected Blockchain's reputation is NFTs. People feel the bitterness of being caught by hype,- while as blockchain itself, NFT technology can have useful real-world applications, and it’s nobody’s fault that it has been able to be widely sold before (maybe instead) it got mature.
Again - Blockchain technology goes beyond just powering cryptocurrencies and marketing channels. To use it just for trading is like using Apple's Vision only to watch porn.
Borders, Politics, and the Intersecting Sets
The core of Crypto Anarchy opposes the concept of borders, considering them arbitrary political constructs. Crypto Anarchists advocate for a world where individuals can freely transact and communicate without being restricted by geographic or political boundaries. The concept states that such constraints often serve the interests of those in power rather than the well-being of the masses, and therefore, a large intersection exists between Crypto Anarchy and anti-border sentiments.
There are nowadays mass actions to legally unbind a human being from the body they were born into, but pretty few attempts to unbind them from the government under which they were born.
There often might be disillusionment with the current state of Russia and America, my deeply loved countries now facing internal challenges.
The comparison between the USSR and the US as social experiments is an intriguing viewpoint within the Crypto Anarchy philosophy. It suggests that different forms of governance can lead to differing degrees of freedom and oppression. While some may interpret the USSR's path as "slavery leading to freedom" and the US as "freedom leading to slavery," these historical comparisons raise profound questions about the nature of governance and the pursuit of liberty.
I would extend it. I have total compassion for Palestinian people now. In the same way, I have compassion for the Israeli people. For Russians, for Ukrainians, Indians and Pakistanis, Iranians and Americans, Somalians and Ethiopians. I would say I feel love for all of them, for all of us, and I wish all the best to each human being, and I feel this kind of perception quite straightforward and natural. Who, or what drives them to kill each other?
The idea of horizontal connections over the world stopping wars was taken, to my point of view, to its local-in-time most, by communists at the beginning of the XXI century. Unfortunately, this led to terror, dictatorship, and other consequences we still have to deal with. More unfortunately, I don’t see that capitalistic democracy is now solving those problems. And even more unfortunately, crypto anarchy seems to work only as idealistic instrument of the mind, since most people only see BTC/USD (/EUR /CHF /RUB) prices beyond it.
Spirituality and a Stateless Society
Religions have been long-term balancing between what’s above borders, and what’s under the government, and between what’s uniting people and separating people.
The concluding perspective delves into the intersection of spirituality and governance. Crypto Anarchy challenges the conventional understanding of statehood and explores the potential for a society beyond the limitations imposed by social divisions. Which raises questions about the compatibility of various religious beliefs with the idea of a stateless society, and the social request for it.
This is a large separate and sensitive topic, but I would at least like to mention it here.
Arbeit macht frei
Humanity loses a lot when great ideas are exploited by bad governments and regimes. That labor makes one free is a deep and important thought, going far beyond forced work.
We have to admit that labor, equality, love, freedom, and diversity, are what we must value outside the boundaries which are imposed by their exploiters.
And the only way to get their right meaning is to find them inside yourself, purified from any external infusion, by a constant loop of labor and reflection.
A government is interested in providing people with the education necessary and sufficient to work and breed. A government is not essentially interested in personal upbringing for any higher level of human consciousness. And this is quite natural. That’s why to study life anyhow except prolonged and painful experiences, one should get at least a piece of peer-to-peer/private education.
This unfortunately is hardly too evenly distributed, and there are warnings that one day we might face lower-intelligence people being oppressed by higher-intelligence people. That is a major question: what is intelligence, and how should it be connected with consciousness and contribution to society.
This is a matter of faith in a human being generally, but also, as explained by Dr. Jordan Peterson in his “12 Rules for Life”, we should strive for a society where a person is determined by his or her competency, not power. This also looks like a great platform for crypto, providing a transparent approach to see one’s contribution and potential.
Overall, bringing power to smaller groups might bring some risk to confronting each other, and centralized power is what brings a vertical order among horizontally diverse groups. However, the New Human should be ruled by the power of vertical values, not militaries.
Black Mirror and what those dark-tech-prophets warn us about.
Of course, this can be.
Nihilism, resentment, and anti-social attitude might be something chasing humanity forever. But again, this is a matter of faith, and here I would like to again cite Dr. Jordan Peterson - “at the end, the whole act of life is an act of faith”.
Looking forward
Is Crypto Anarchy a realistic goal? Is it even desirable? Idk.
What is clear is that as we move into the future, it is becoming increasingly clear that the old ways of doing things are no longer sustainable. We need new ideas and new solutions to the challenges we face. Crypto Anarchy may be one of those solutions. Or it may simply be a mind experiment that helps us to imagine a better world.
Crypto Anarchy is a thought-provoking movement that advocates for a decentralized, borderless, and stateless society enabled by blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. It challenges traditional notions of governance and invites us to reevaluate our understanding of freedom and authority. While some of its ideas may be controversial or unconventional, Crypto Anarchy reminds us to think critically about the structures that shape our world and the possibilities that lie ahead.
In the beginning, I stated that the crypto anarchy topic resonated with my personal and business relaunch, and maybe it would be straightforward to expand it here.
I don’t expect any viable form of applied crypto anarchy in the near future, but I firmly believe that people united right now around the values beyond it, have all the chances to come up with some things the world needs now to become better, or at least less worse.
As to Trood - the new decentralized AI-driven SaaS Trood platform is available through trood.com/launchpad, along with the new rebooted, recharged, and revitalized version of myself - join the beta, join me, and join the Community!
Cheers!