Episode 232 - Bread Cooperative - Solidarity Over Speculation: Embedding Cooperative Values into Blockchain Infrastructure

For episode 232, I’m excited to welcome Joshua Dávila, a longtime organizer, writer, and builder at the intersection of progressive politics and crypto. Josh is the host of The Blockchain Socialist podcast, the author of Blockchain Radicals, and a core contributor to Bread Cooperative, a worker-owned collective building real financial tools rooted in solidarity, not hype.

In today’s episode you’ll learn:

• 🥖 What it looks like to build worker-owned, decentralized financial infrastructure, and why solidarity, not speculation, can be the foundation of Web3 systems
• 🤝 How cooperative models like Savings Circles (ROSCAs), mutual aid, and participatory budgeting are being reimagined with blockchain technology
• ⚙️ Why all technical systems encode values, and how “solidarity primitives” offer an alternative to extractive systems
• 🚀 And how Bread Cooperative is experimenting with community currencies, shared treasuries, and democratic finance controlled by working people

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--Key Takeaways--

🔁 Old Models, New Scale: Decentralized economic systems like cooperatives, savings circles, and mutual aid networks have existed for generations. Blockchain doesn’t replace these models, it helps communities coordinate, sustain, and scale them globally without losing their local, human roots.

🧩 Values Can Be Designed Into Infrastructure: Technology is never neutral. By intentionally building solidarity primitives, financial tools designed around cooperation, care, and shared ownership, projects like Bread Cooperative show how Web3 can move beyond extractive finance toward systems that serve communities first.

🏗️ Reclaiming Control of Financial Systems: For too long, financial institutions have privatized profits and socialized losses. Community-owned financial infrastructure offers a powerful alternative; one where people have real ownership, voice, and upside, not just financial elites. Web3 makes this shift possible at an entirely new scale.

--Full shownotes with links available at--
www.cryptoaltruists.com/blog/crypto-altruists-episode-232-bread-cooperative-solidarity-over-speculation-embedding-cooperative-values-into-blockchain-infrastructure

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--DISCLAIMER--
While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, do not take any of this as investment advice and make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity, before making an investment. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More info at cryptoaltruists.com/disclaimer