The Blockchain Socialist Bail Bloc: A Cryptocurrency Scheme Against Bail
Bailbloc is a cryptocurrency scheme against bail through The New Inquiry, in which you can download the app and a small portion of your computer's unused processing power is redirected toward mining Monero. At the end of every month, Bailbloc exchanges the Monero for US dollars and donates the earnings to one of the bail funds in the National Bail Fund Network on a rotational basis. Due to changes in the US legal system around bail, the project is in the process of being phased out, however all of the code is open source and can potentially be used for other purposes.
For this interview I spoke to Grayson Earle (@graysonearle). He is an artist in residence at the Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (Center for Art and Urbanistics) in Berlin and one of the creators of Bail Bloc. During the interview we talk about how an why he created Bailbloc, the lessons learned from it, and his suggestions for people who would want to do something similar. We also talk a little bit about Breadchain and the similarities it has with how Bailbloc approached cryptocurrency to collectivize gains for good.
If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit and Discord to join the discussion.
Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime.
ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.
The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.