BitCult: Drinking the Crypto Kool-Aid

With all this smoking hash, what could possibly go bong?

Read the full article by Dr J Ellis Cameron-Perry on LinkedIn

Bill Harris, former CEO of PayPal, has once again nailed his colors to the mast, this time on CNBC: crypto is a cult. Strong words — but does he have a point?

Today’s cults might be secular, or they might be theistic. But they arise from the same place of need, and from the failure of other, more ‘mainstream’ cultural institutions to fill it.

Tara Isabella Burton in Aeon

Mr Harris, as you may know, is among a small number of astute, high-profile businessmen who have offered harsh words about Bitcoin and/or cryptocurrencies. The list includes Barclay Bank’s Joseph Abate (interest in cryptos is like unto an infectious disease), Warren Buffett (Bitcoin = rat poison squared), and Bill Gates. (Thanks to Paul de Haviland for the summary.)

Fair enough. There is indeed a great deal of hot-blooded enthusiasm for Bitcoin and for cryptocurrencies generally, and there are those who seem to regard blockchain as a messianic technology. ‘Cult’ might be too strong a word, but I take the point: in this industry, the inertia of groupthink seems sometimes to have overpowered both the gravity of logic and the friction of common-sense. It’s one thing to sip the Kool-aid; it’s another to swill it.

What needs to be remembered (and no doubt Mr Harris et al. know this) is that one can be justifiably excited about the problem-solving potential of blockchain technology without caring a fig about cryptocurrencies qua new forms of digital specie. This matters: tingly effervescence about the prospect of getting rich with crypto may or may not be warranted (or healthy), but cooler heads know the smart money is on the continued development and distribution of blockchain-based technologies. This, in fact, is China’s stance.

Granted, the abundance of excitement about the Brave New World of digital wampum might seem culty; but if we’re looking for a truly dangerous dogmatism, we need to look past tokens and consider one of the signature elements of blockchain technology itself: decentralization.

What is the real value of “decentralization,” in the context of a decentralized currency, ledger, database, app, or organization? Is a decentralized solution always better on principle? If so, what’s the principle?

Want to know how it continues?

Read the full article on LinkedIn

By Dr J Ellis Cameron-Perry PhD

Executive Director, AEIOU

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