I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Obviously there's the surface-level matter of speculation and deceitful schemes that's been going on around this field for the last few years, but the theoretical background is interesting, rapidly evolving, and seems to be packing a great deal of transformative potential.
I'm not sure what to believe about this. On the one hand, cryptocurrencies are the go-to option whenever one wants to conceal their economic activity, which doesn't seem like a good thing in a socialist economy (e.g., could lead to a black market-like dynamic).
On the other hand, it's becoming increasingly clear that the general idea of reducing extractable value comes naturally from the advancements in these technologies. Trust does not need to be paid for at a price any higher than the minimum required to keep the system working. It is entirely possible that production be entirely governed via the blockchain with no way to extract surplus value at all (e.g., risks hedged collectively, knowledge/entrepreneurship provided through a decentralized proof mechanism that reduces its effective cost...). Under this scenario, since no worker would be incentivized to resort to any other system, concealing transactions wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Then there's the issue of how the blockchain, as something that already exists today, would impact the transition into socialism. In this regard, I personally doubt there are any benefits beyond some specific use cases, like concealing transactions from bourgeois authorities.
Of course, there is a possibility that further research opens the door to new forms of worker cooperation, in parallel to unions and coops. Maybe it would be easier for us to perform some economic activities as a group without having to trust anyone, or maybe it would be easier to organize.
So, here are my own thoughts. I would like to see your opinion on the matter, specifically:
- Do you think the communist society is compatible with blockchain?
- Do you think socialist countries should ban these technologies?
- Do you think the blockchain under capitalism makes a transition to socialism more feasible or less?