Peer2Politics

Christian Siefkes denies that money and markets are “more or less neutral tools which can be used for non-capitalist purposes,” arguing that since money and markets were never the primary means of organizing production in a non-capitalist society, money “cannot become the dominant social form outside of capitalism.”

The still raging financial crisis of 2007–2008 has enabled the emergence of several alternative practices concerning the production, circulation and use of money. This essay explores the political economy of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Specifically, we examine the context in which this digital currency is emerging as well as its nature, dynamics, advantages, and disadvantages. We conclude that Bitcoin, a truly interesting experiment, exemplifies “distributed capitalism” and should be mostly seen as a technological innovation. Rather than providing pragmatic answers and solutions to the current views on the financial crisis, Bitcoin provides some useful and timely questions about the principles and bases of the dominant political economy.