The Blockchain Socialist

Although it feels like the Bitcoin Miami Conference was ages ago, it still only happened a little over a month ago. There were plenty of memorable events, like Laura Loomer heckling Jack Dorsey, the weird doge coin guy who took his pants off on stage, and the announcement that El Salvador will pass a law to make bitcoin legal tender. It's obvious that many bitcoiners would celebrate the announcement as a legitimation of their favorite coin, but what would be an appropriate Marxist analysis of the conference and bitcoin?This week I spoke with Taryn Fivek (@tarynfivek), an adjunct lecturer of economics at John Jay College and a PhD student at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, studying Economic Geography with the Earth and Environmental Science Program. Her professional background includes food server and delivery driver, union organizer, journalist, researcher, and public information officer with the International Organization for Migration. She also attended the Bitcoin Miami Conference as part of her research.During the episode we spoke about her experience at the Bitcoin Miami Conference, the many contradictions that were present, and her sensible approach to how the left should view bitcoin.More from Taryn FivekTaryn on recent inflation fearsPodcast Platforms:SpotifyiTunesStitcherPodcast AddictDeezerIf 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. Support the showICYMI 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.

This is a teaser of a patreon exclusive episode. As a patron you have the ability to vote on the topic / question of a monthly patreon exclusive podcast. For this month the question most voted on was "Centralization vs Decentralization, which is better for socialism?".Get the full version on Patreon.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. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this week's episode, I spoke with Caleb James Delisle (@cjdelisle),  founder of PKT Cash, the world’s first bandwidth-hard blockchain meant to support de-monopolizing internet access through mesh networking. Previously he also founded Cjdns, which implements an encrypted IPv6 network using public-key cryptography for address allocation and a distributed hash table for routing, and Packet Crypt, which is the proof of work used for PKT Cash.During the episode we spoke about how his project is meant to help people get around monopolistic internet service providers who oversell bandwidth, how the project's proof of work encourages building better internet infrastructure for communities, and we talk a bit about the value of the fediverse as opposed to big tech platform.More on PKTPKT Cash SiteJoin the PKT CommunityPodcast Platforms:SpotifyiTunesStitcherPodcast AddictDeezerIf 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. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this week's episode I spoke with Samer Hassan (@SamerP2P), activist, researcher, and Associate Professor at Universidad Complutense Madrid and Faculty Associate at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center. His current focus is his work on P2P Models (@P2PMod), a project to build collaborative economy organizations that are decentralized, democratic & distribute their profits through the use of decentralized technology like blockchain.During the interview we talk about Samer's research and activist experience both in technical and social issues, how he sees decentralized technologies can assist the left for organizing and governance, and some of the insights P2P Models' research has found so far on how DAOs have evolved.More from P2P ModelsExplanation of P2P Models from Samer HassanBlockchain for Social Good: A field in expansionAn overview of decentralized autonomous organizations on the blockchainWhen Ostrom Meets Blockchain: Exploring the Potentials of Blockchain for Commons GovernanceA Scalable Voting System: Validation of Holographic Consensus in DAOstackEffect of the Gas Price Surges on User Activity in the DAOs of the Ethereum BlockchainTowards a decentralized process for scientific publication and peer review using blockchain and IPFSPodcast Platforms:SpotifyiTunesStitcherPodcast AddictDeezerIf 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. FolloSend me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.

This week I spoke with Dr. Filipe Calvao (@filipecalvao), a  socio-cultural anthropologist and professor of Anthropology and Sociology at the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies in Geneva and trained gemologist with ethnographic research in diamond mines in Africa. He is the author of two different papers published comparing crypto mining with physical mining : “Crypto-miners: Digital labor and the power of blockchain technology” and “Digital extraction: Blockchain traceability in mineral supply chains”.During the interview we talked about his research on the similarities with the progression under capitalism with crypto mining and other types of mining, how mining can foster solidarity through meaning-making, and how mining companies' attempts to use blockchain for supply chain traceability may create new forms of control. Podcast Platforms:SpotifyiTunesStitcherPodcast AddictDeezerIf 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 to join the discussion.Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this week's episode, I spoke with Austin Robey, cofounder of Ampled, a cooperatively owned music platform owned by artists and workers similar to Patreon. He recently published an article through Forefront titled “How Community Tokens Can Power Cooperatives.”During the interview we talk about how Ampled is working to create a cooperative alternative to Patreon for musicians, the struggle of raising funds for platform cooperatives, and the recent proposal he made for starting a community token around the Ampled platform. The community token would be a type of local currency for the Ampled ecosystem. It would allow for the cooperative to recognize their workers contributions and potentially give them an avenue for paying for things like rent. You can start giving to a specific musician on Ampled or to the community as a whole starting a $3 per month.Breadchain Coop LinksReddit AnnouncementTwitter AccountNewsletterMoney Lab PresentationPodcast Platforms:SpotifyiTunesStitcherPodcast AddictDeezerIf 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 to join the discussion.Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this week's interview I spoke with Kris Jones (@KrisJ_Official) who wrote his Masters thesis in 2018 titled "Toward a Political Sociology of Blockchain” as well as another article titled "Blockchain in or as governance? Evolutions in experimentation, social impacts, and prefigurative practice in the blockchain and DAO space." He also has a Medium profile where he expands on different ideas he wrote about in his thesis. During the interview we talk about what got him interested in blockchain from a sociological point of view, the major ideological camps in the space, and how he was influenced by some of Marx's work for writing his thesis. He also gave us a run down of some of the projects he's working on including Commons Stack, the Token Engineering Commons, Don't Buy Meme, and Keep Network. Note that this was an especially long interview, so next week I will not be publishing a podcast episode to give myself some time to a few other things I've been needing to do.SourcesToward a Political Sociology of Blockchain — an Introduction Blockchain and the Future of Work by Kris JonesPrefigurative Practice, Politics, and the State  by Kris JonesMy interview with Jeff Emmett from Commons StackBreadchain Coop LinksReddit AnnouncementTwitter AccountNewsletterIf you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you want to see more content like this, please consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. At the moment I’ve spent more on this project than I’ve ever made so any amount helps. Also, sign up for the Newsletter, follow me on Twitter (Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this week's episode, I have unlocked a previously patreon exclusive podcast episode I did about a month ago during NFT mania. I wanted to unlock this episode for the public because there’s been some serious confusion around what NFTs actually are even though everyone seems to have an opinion on it or should I say want to be angry about it and I wanted to get my, what I believe to be, more educated and nuanced view of it.  This was originally a patreon exclusive episode because as a patron you are able to vote on what the monthly or so patreon exclusive episode will be about and well my patrons at that moment voted for an episode on NFTs. Below is the description I used for the episode when posted on Patreon. Enjoy!The patreon democratic economic planning council has spoken. With a choice between discussing NFTs and the left’s reaction against centralization vs decentralizataion, the former has won. Some have speculated that the topic of centralization was too spicy for the council as they didn’t want to butt heads with the anarchists. It seems they’d rather suffer through another my hot take on NFTs. What could I possibly say that hasn’t already been said in the deluge of hot takes that have polluted our social media feeds? Well frankly I don’t know but I’m gonna try.In this episode I go through some of the hot takes from the left I've seen and heard, explain what I think they're getting wrong on the issue, and provide a couple alternative potential uses of NFTs. The work of previous guests on the show, Jon Beller of ECSA and Ruth Catlow of Furtherfield make appearances as well to support my arguments.More on NFTsMcKenzie Wark's Article - "My Collectible Ass"Jon Beller Article - "Fascism on the Blockchain? The Work of Art in the Age of NFTs"Interdependence episode: NFTs for n00bsMy interview with Ruth CatlowSome of the TweetsChelsea Manning tweet Lee Carter tweet Yanis Varoufakis tweet Everest Pipkin ArticleIf you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you want to see more content like this, please consider donating to my Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this week's episode, I spoke with 1Dime (@TheRapNerd7), a youtuber who focuses on videos about politics, critical theory, and pop culture.  During the interview we talk about his latest video which was a Marxist analysis of the stock market, how Karl Marx would probably be a dogecoin trader, and why many of the left's criticisms of crypto tend to hinge on a liberal moralism rather than a materialist one. More on 1DimeCheck out 1Dime's channel hereThe Socialism of Warren BuffetHow Democrats Save Billionaires If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you want to see more content like this, please consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. At the moment I’ve spent more on this project than I’ve ever made so any amount helps. Also, sign up for the Newsletter, follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist), and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit to continue the discussion and give your thoughts.Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.

For this interview I spoke to Julio Linares (@Julio_Linares_) an Economic Anthropologist studied under David Graeber at the LSE, Social Outreach at the Basic Income Org, and Research & Community for CirclesUBI (@CirclesUBI). CirclesUBI is a project seeking to provide people a universal basic income using the xDAI ethereum sidechain based on mutual credit. You may have heard about CirclesUBI a while back when they first came out and everyone in cryptocurrency social media spaces was spamming their CirclesUBI profile to be trusted by three people in order to get access to their UBI.During the interview we talk about Julio's ideas around how we can implement democratic money, how it relates to other anti-capitalist and anti-state movements like the Kurdish movement in Syria, and how a lot of influential European  thinkers were inspired by Indigenous cultures suffering under colonialism. We also talk about his experience working at CirclesUBI, what it was like to see the project go viral with most people misunderstanding how it was supposed to work, and the lessons he suggests future "left-wing" blockchain projects.SourcesJulio's work on Ecology of CareJulio's work on Degrowth MoneyIf you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you want to see more content like this, please consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. At the moment I’ve spent more on this project than I’ve ever made so any amount helps. Also, sign up for the Newsletter, follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist), and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit to continue the discussion and give your thoughts.Send me your questions or comments about the show and I'll read them out sometime. Support the showICYMI 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.