[WSMDiscuss] [REDlistserve] Bitcoin

Tue Jun 8 14:26:57 CEST 2021

Bitcoin creation, aka mining, is an energy intensive process that secures a
worldwide, decentralized network.  When that energy comes from coal, it is
highly polluting.  When the energy comes from otherwise unused
hydroelectric, solar, or gas that would otherwise be flared, it is far less
polluting.

Every regime, especially the US, as the owner of the world’s reserve
currency, must decide how they will respond to a deflationary currency over
which they have little control. Many countries are considering issuing
their own national “coin”, that is, a digital dollar, or yuan, or Euro
which they would control.  The only thing these coins have in common with
Bitcoin is that they are digital.

Whether they challenge capitalism is a little like asking, did electricity
challenge feudalism? The advancement of democracy does have a relationship
to technological progress, but seldom in a straight line.

Everyone on this list should become familiar with Bitcoin.  It will be
considered as important an invention as the Internet itself.  While it does
not change the distribution of wealth at the top, it will offer people at
the middle and bottom ways to send money home quickly and cheaply, a
“banking system” that does not require banks, and, for those who can save
anything, a way to escape hyper-inflation.

It is already being used by countries under US sanctions to continue
economic activity, and by individuals around the world to exchange value
with others not in their country. While many people associated with Bitcoin
can be characterized as Libertarian Conservatives, there is room for
Libertarian Socialists to find ideological footing. I am interested in
doing this, and welcome potential partners.

On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 5:48 AM Ashish Kothari via WSM-Discuss <
wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net> wrote:

> But what about this? (and there are many more such reports):
>
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/27/bitcoin-mining-electricity-use-environmental-impact
>
> Democracy that comes at a huge ecological cost is not, well, democracy!
> But, like Jai, then I don't understand much about all this, so perhaps
> someoen can enlighten.
>
> Also, are all cryptocurrencies likely to cause such ecological impacts, or
> are some different ...and if so, how?
>
> I also did not understand this, James: "blockchain is a network of
> millions of computers .... makes decentralisation possible" ... and then
> "authoritarian regimes don't want to let in existing cryptos ... would
> ratehr create their own Blockchain & crypto currency" ... now is
> blockchain/cryptos are inherently decentralised, would not authoritarian
> regimes risk their own power by setting up their own?
>
> Finally, do any of these fundamentally challenge capitalism (and in the
> above qs, statism), or are they 'reforms' within the existing structures?
>
> thanks to anyone, who can respond to these qs.
>
> ashish
> On 08/06/21 3:03 pm, James Pochury wrote:
>
> One bitcoin had almost touched 50,000 USD. Right now it is hovering around
> 36,000. You can own a fraction of bitcoin, including by giving a fraction
> to the 70% of the informal economy and over a period of time, the value
> increases benefitting them.
>
> There are atleast 5000 cryptocurrencies and counting. Etherium is at no. 2
> in terms of value.
>
> The decentralised nature of cryptocurrency, with crowdfunding approach in
> many cases, makes it a viable and political project with huge potential for
> the masses.
>
> Blockchain technology is the engine that drives cryptocurrency. Blockchain
> is a network of millions of computers across the world wired together
> through a software platform. Blockchain makes decentralisation possible. A
> reason why authoritarian regimes don't want to let in existing cryptos into
> their countries. They would rather create their own Blockchain and crypto
> currency.
>
> Blockchain is also poised to be used for many other sectors, including
> financial, health, educational institutions, communications,
> transportation, trade, etc.
>
> James
>
> On Tue, 8 Jun 2021, 02:01 Jai Sen, <jai.sen at cacim.net> wrote:
>
>> Monday, June 7, 2021
>>
>> *El Salvador in movement…, **Ideas in movement…, **History in movement…,
>> Economies in movement…*
>>
>> [I know nothing about Bitcoin, and my last attempt – this last weekend -
>> to try to understand (by reading an article on it) resulted in my bailing
>> out.  But that’s not the point : A day later, I see this article, and the
>> part that interests me is the social (and political) basis on which E;
>> Salvador’s President is selling his move : *That it will “include” the
>> “70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a bank account and works in
>> the informal economy”*.  Any comments, from those who understand this
>> field ?  Because it seems to me that the implications, and repercussions,
>> of this step are huge, for economies – and rulers - across the world :
>>
>> “Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make Bitcoin a legal
>> tender in El Salvador,” Bukele said in the message Saturday. “In the short
>> term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to
>> thousands outside the formal economy and in the medium and long term we
>> hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit
>> into the right direction.”
>>
>> The U.S. dollar is El Salvador’s official currency. About one quarter of
>> El Salvador’s citizens live in the United States and last year, despite the
>> pandemic, they sent home more than $6 billion in remittances.
>>
>> Stephen McKeon, a finance professor at the University of Oregon who
>> studies cryptocurrencies, said Bitcoin is legal to own in most countries
>> but has never been designated as legal tender, which would mean it could be
>> used to to settle financial obligations, including taxes.
>>
>> But, he added, “It is unclear whether anyone desires to pay their taxes
>> in Bitcoin.”
>>
>> Additional details of the plan were not released. But Bukele in
>> subsequent messages on Twitter noted that Bitcoin could be “the fastest
>> growing way to transfer six billion dollars a year in remittances.” He said
>> that a big chunk of those money transfers were currently lost to
>> intermediaries and with Bitcoin more than a million low-income families
>> could benefit.
>>
>> He also said 70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a bank account
>> and works in the informal economy. Bitcoin could improve financial
>> inclusion, he said.
>>
>> *El Salvador looks to become first country in the world to adopt bitcoin
>> as legal tender*
>>
>> Associated Press
>>
>>
>> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/article-el-salvador-president-plans-to-make-bitcoin-legal-tender/?symbol=print-msg
>>
>> El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, pictured after a news conference in
>> San Salvador on June 6, 2021, wants to make Bitcoin legal tender in his
>> country.  (JOSE CABEZAS/Reuters)
>>
>> El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced in a recorded message played
>> at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next week he will send proposed
>> legislation to the country’s congress that would make the cryptocurrency
>> legal tender in the Central American nation.
>>
>> The 39-year-old president, who has maintained approval ratings above 90%
>> and made Twitter his preferred way of communicating, characterized it as an
>> idea that could help El Salvador move forward.
>>
>> “Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make Bitcoin a legal
>> tender in El Salvador,” Bukele said in the message Saturday. “In the short
>> term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to
>> thousands outside the formal economy and in the medium and long term we
>> hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit
>> into the right direction.”
>>
>> The U.S. dollar is El Salvador’s official currency. About one quarter of
>> El Salvador’s citizens live in the United States and last year, despite the
>> pandemic, they sent home more than $6 billion in remittances.
>>
>> Stephen McKeon, a finance professor at the University of Oregon who
>> studies cryptocurrencies, said Bitcoin is legal to own in most countries
>> but has never been designated as legal tender, which would mean it could be
>> used to to settle financial obligations, including taxes.
>>
>> But, he added, “It is unclear whether anyone desires to pay their taxes
>> in Bitcoin.”
>>
>> Bukele’s New Ideas party holds a supermajority in the new congress seated
>> May 1, giving any legislative proposal from the president a strong
>> likelihood of passage.
>>
>> Additional details of the plan were not released. But Bukele in
>> subsequent messages on Twitter noted that Bitcoin could be “the fastest
>> growing way to transfer six billion dollars a year in remittances.” He said
>> that a big chunk of those money transfers were currently lost to
>> intermediaries and with Bitcoin more than a million low-income families
>> could benefit.
>>
>> He also said 70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a bank account
>> and works in the informal economy. Bitcoin could improve financial
>> inclusion, he said.
>>
>> Riding his high popularity and his party’s dominance performance in Feb.
>> 28 elections, Bukele has concentrated power. His party’s supermajority in
>> congress ousted the justices of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme
>> Court May 1. They then replaced the attorney general.
>>
>> They had been critical of some of Bukele’s more drastic measures during
>> the pandemic, including a mandatory stay-at-home order and containment
>> centres where those caught violating the policy were detained.
>>
>> While enjoying a positive relationship with former U.S. President Donald
>> Trump, Bukele has had a much more tense relationship with the
>> administration of President Joe Biden.
>>
>> Last month, the White House Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle
>> Ricardo Zuniga said during a visit to El Salvador that the U.S. government
>> would like to see El Salvador reverse the moves against the court and the
>> attorney general. Bukele said that would not happen.
>>
>> Bukele’s concentration of power, attacks on critics and open disdain for
>> checks on his power have raised concerns about El Salvador’s path. However,
>> Bukele has a wide base of support in part due to the utter failure of the
>> country’s traditional parties who ruled during the past 30 years to improve
>> people’s lives and to his ability to provide short-term benefits.
>>
>> Bukele has been praised for aggressively obtaining COVID-19 vaccines and
>> running an efficient vaccination program far more successful than El
>> Salvador’s neighbours.
>>
>> ____________________________
>>
>> Jai Sen
>>
>> Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School of
>> International Development and Globalisation Studies at the University of
>> Ottawa
>>
>> jai.sen at cacim.net & jsen at uottawa.ca
>>
>> Now based in Ottawa, Canada, on unsurrendered Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282
>> 2900) and in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325)
>>
>> *Check out something new** – including for copies of the first two books
>> below, at a discount, and much more : **The Movements of Movements
>> <https://movementsofmovements.net/>*
>>
>> Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
>> Move ?*.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and
>> hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>; hard copy
>> only also at The Movements of Movements
>> <https://movementsofmovements.net/>
>>
>> Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – *The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking
>> Our Dance*.  Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press
>> <http://www.pmpress.org/>; hard copy only also at The Movements of
>> Movements <https://movementsofmovements.net/>
>>
>> Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – *The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us
>> Move ?*  (Indian edition). New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration
>> with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN
>> <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>
>> , MOM1Flipkart
>> <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>,
>> and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
>>
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