this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2024
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Bingo. Capitalism has thus far rejected the blockchain, which is generally evidence that it doesn't solve an important problem either efficiently, safely or cheaply.
Capitalism rejects solutions to climate change as well
To be fair, there are plenty of other reasons capitalism might have rejected blockchain: market failure, interference by government, etc.
I'm not saying that to defend cryptocurrency, by the way, but rather to point out that capitalism isn't perfect at allocating resources in every situation.
capitalism is generally terrible at allocating ressources. It will always win to externalize costs, and if the people footing the bill cannot participate in the market, like for instance future generations, the result is always a self destructive system.
Isn’t one of its goals to be free from government influence? That’s not a valid excuse.
Blockchain is just a technology. It doesn't have "goals."
If a government explicitly blocks it and tries to find and punish trading off or in cryptocurrencies that will cause interference.
that is talking about blockchain as a technology for cryptocurrencies.
They put money in Bitcoin, but not the tech behind it. To them it's just stocks to be manipulated in order to get a profit.
I don't know why this is surprising. Capitalism is an economic system where the goal is profit. So, why would capital do anything other than seek profit? Nearly all technological advances have occurred through government or institutional investments, then capital flocks to it when someone finds a way to profit from it.
Thinking block chain is a solution to anything is naive. It does nothing to change the underlying system, or the incentives that drive our economy. Like any system, the interconnections between the things that make up the system, and the goal of the system must change otherwise everything will just settle back to the status quo.
For example: media streaming is becoming cable tv again. Nothing fundamentally changed about the system of delivering media, or the goal of the system which is to drive profit. Thus, we are moving quickly back to the same model of paying for media (renting it really) and watching ads to increase the revenue of the provider
Right?
Also, look at its price. It dipped, and came right back.
If anything, the financial consensus around this is exactly the opposite of what was being presented.