The Blockchain Socialist

This is  a teaser for the third episode in the patreon exclusive Q&A series where I talk about my thoughts on the STABLE Act, which has become infamous in the crypto world, and how I think the cryptoleftist movement should understand and view it. If you don't know, the Stablecoin Tethering and Bank Licensing Enforcement (STABLE) Act, proposed by  Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), requires stablecoin-issuing companies to obtain a banking charter and follow "appropriate" banking regulations in their jurisdiction. It also requires them to maintain reserves, equivalent to the dollar amount of their stablecoin issues, at the Federal Reserve and undergo regular audits to ensure compliance. Keep in mind that this bill has not been passed and is not likely to pass in the very near term, but unsurprisingly, this has caused a lot of ire from the crypto community, especially the anti-state libertarians.  During the interview I focus on things said by Rohan Grey who is an aide in Tlaib's office that helped draft the bill and three of the main arguments I've seen circulating against the STABLE Act. Based on that I line out what I think the appropriate cryptoleftist take on the legislation should be. Spoiler alert: don't trust criticisms being hurled by people you are not politically aligned with.SourcesBankless Interview with Rohan Old video of Rohan that I think is interesting Coindesk article with many of the arguments I look in the episode Thanks again for all your support! As you can maybe tell, my audio is a bit better in this episode because I got a new microphone thanks to your patronage :)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 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 episode I interview Dandelion Mané (@decentralion) and talk about their work on SourceCred (@sourcecred), a tool for communities to measure and reward value creation, which they founded. As the name suggests, Cred is the core idea of SourceCred. Cred is a score which is earned by making contributions to a project. A participant's score reflects how valuable their contributions were to the project. Participants are then rewarded with digital currency, or "Grain", based on their Cred. Cred is non-transferable, retroactive, transparent, and community-specific.During the interview we talk about  the issues that open source communities face to become sustainable without corporate cooptation, how SourceCred can help with this problem by providing a democratic way for rewarding contributors, and why Dandelion identifies as a post-capitalist.More on SourceCredSourceCred Intro VideoGet Involved with SourceCredHow to Setup a SourceCred InstanceSourceCred GithubIf 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 sat down with Hannes Gerhardt, professor of Human Geography at the University of West Georgia and author of a recent piece in ROAR Magazine titled, Blockchains: Building blocks for a postcapitalist future? . He has published on a wide range of political and economic issues and is currently working on a book exploring pathways to establishing non-capitalist forms of economic production.During the interview we talk about how his research interests in human geography and post-capitalism relates to blockchain, some of his ideas in his article in Roar about "re-valuing and de-fetishizing", and his advice for commons projects to avoid co-optation by capitalists.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 week's podcast I spoke to Akseli Virtanen (@econaut6), one of the founders of the Economic Space Agency (@ecospaceagency) (ECSA), an organization for exploring protocols for post-capitalist economic expression. Akseli previously founded the Robin Hood Cooperative Hedge Fund and has been referred as The Andy Warhol of Finance. During the interview we talk about how ECSA is  exploring the creation of post-capitalist economic media through the creation of a new "economic grammar", how the Left can co-opt financial jargon to imagine a post-capitalist future (like social derivatives), and the irony of using the work of Friedrich Hayek on economic calculation to show that capitalism sucks. If you're a leftist interested in the blockchain space, it's absolutely imperative that you keep up with the work of ECSA.Learn more about ECSAECSA WebsiteAkseli's blogEconomic GrammarEconomic Media Transcending Hayek and his digital disciples (article)Transcending Hayek and his digital disciples (podcast)New RenaissanceLearn more about Robin HoodDemocratizing the Power of FinanceFinancial Platforms for the FutureEquity, Options, Assemblage 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.

This is a teaser of the second episode of the patreon exclusive Q&A series where I talk about the question asked by JB on the differences between socialism based on markets versus planning and how blockchain can influence that conversation.  Get the full version on Patreon.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 week I spoke to Creston Davis, founder of the Global Center of Advanced Studies (@GCASCollege), the first cooperatively run college using their own ethereum-enabled token (called GCASY) that represents shares in the college that can be used for paying for tuition and other expenses. Many well-known academics are a part of GCAS, including Alain Badiou and they've hosted seminars from the likes of Noam Chomsky, Richard Wolff, and Chris Hedges.During the interview we talk about how a conversation with Slavoj Zizek motivated Creston to start the "modern day Frankfurt School" that doesn't require students to go into debt, what it's like to be a student at the school (they offer bachelors, masters, and PhD degrees), and how GCAS's progressive model can reproduce itself in other ways similar to how universities in the age of neoliberalism have socially reproduced themselves into the economy. SourcesGCAS College DublinGCAS LatinoaméricaGCAS Crypto HubGCAS E-SchoolIf 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.

This week I spoke with Stefen Deleveaux (@stefdelev), the president of the Caribbean  Blockchain Alliance (CBA). The CBA is an organization that advocates for the use of blockchain in Caribbean, educates developers , and collaborates with regulators to create regulatory frameworks in the region. One of the purposes of the organization is to help create a more coherent Caribbean alliance based on solidarity help protect the interests of the region.During the interview we spoke about the history of colonialism and imperialism in the Caribbean, how it has influenced the current situation (e.g., dependence on wealthy tourists, lack of industry, EU black lists, etc.), and how Stefen believes blockchain could be used to enable vast improvements in living conditions in the region for working people and public services.  We also discuss a bit about the Sand Dollar, which is the Central Bank Digital Currency that the Bahamian Central Bank recently released this year.Learn more about some of the ways how the US and Europe keep the Caribbean underdeveloped from one of the Caribbean's top economists here.Donate to support the CBA here:BTC:  1MSaYj6AaamEnYEdNmzbgQeszS1srdxHN​ETH:  0x72944A176997207740f7da5D3c1DFd938e9c772eYou can find official addresses at the the bottom of their site as well if you want to double check.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 9-month old 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.

This week I interviewed Andrew Ancheta (@TrampAbroad1), a freelance journalist who previously wrote for crypto publications, but most recently wrote an article in the leftwing journal Current Affairs called The Crypto Casino.  It's a great article, and I don't say that just because I'm featured in it :). The article is in the currently most recent issue of Current Affairs (Issue 27, September-October 2020) so be sure to check it out. You can purchase the issue here.During the interview we talk about his experience in working in crypto media during the ICO boom, what it was like to now write an article about crypto from a leftist perspective, and how technical analysis is essentially horoscopes for people into charts. We're not all doom and gloom about the crypto space however and talk about some of the things that Andrew is most excited about, like DAOs.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 9-month old 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.

This week I spoke with Morshed Mannan (@MannanMorshed), a PhD candidate at Leiden Law School in The Netherlands and  Research Fellow at the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy at The New School. His research interest in cooperatives and digital technologies eventually led him to blockchain and he's produced some really interesting research and seminars on its intersection.During the interview we discuss his previously published research about the differences between trust and confidence on the blockchain and link that to his work about cooperatives, we revisit two projects that were on the podcast previously (Eva Coop and Colony), and discuss how blockchain and coops have similar properties while also having a lot to learn from one another. At some point we also agree that cooperatives may be a good way to take entrepreneurship away from the right wing.Sources: Blockchain as a confidence machine: The problem of trust & challenges of governanceFostering Worker Cooperatives with Blockchain Technology: Lessons from the Colony ProjectEverything Old is New Again: Evaluating the Legal and Governance Structures of Shared-Services Platform Cooperatives (Unpublished but will be published here soon)TBS Interview with ColonyTBS Interview with Eva CoopIf 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 9-month old 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.

This week I spoke to Michel Bauwens, the  founder  of the Foundation for Peer-to-Peer Alternatives and works in collaboration with a global group of researchers in the exploration of peer production, governance, and property and is known for his work on The Political Economy of Peer Production. Much of his work revolves around exploring peer production as an alternative to currently existing capitalism.For this interview we spoke mostly about his  recently published P2P ACCOUNTING FOR PLANETARY SURVIVAL report which focused on ways that DLT can be used to create alternative productive relations that promote planetary survival. I ask him about his frameworks for understanding technological designs and the different types of cooperatives which can help  create generative relations as opposed to extractive ones as well as why he thinks DLT and technologies like blockchain have particular properties that can help us fight against the destruction of the earth's natural environment.SourcesP2P Foundation WikiCommons TransitionIf 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 9-month old 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.