diff --git a/claims/index.md b/claims/index.md index 3259ef3a..ef903356 100644 --- a/claims/index.md +++ b/claims/index.md @@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ Explore crypto and "web3" in terms of the claims made about it. These subclaims * [Are crypto assets legal?](/claims/is-legal.md) * [Are crypto tokens a negative-sum investment?](/claims/is-negative-sum.md) * [Why do people invest in crypto tokens?](/claims/is-why-invest.md) -* [Why does crypto have such a weird subculture?](/claims/is-weird-culture.md) #### Financial Liberty @@ -38,7 +37,6 @@ Explore crypto and "web3" in terms of the claims made about it. These subclaims #### Solving Public Goods Problems -* [Is crypto a means to fund public goods projects?](/claims/is-public-goods.md) * [Is bitcoin mining harmful to the environment?](/claims/is-environmental-footprint.md) * [Is crypto bringing about the "financialization of everything"?](/claims/is-hyperfinancialization.md) * [Is crypto a giant misallocation of resources with an enormous opportunity cost?](/claims/is-opportunity-cost.md) @@ -47,7 +45,6 @@ Explore crypto and "web3" in terms of the claims made about it. These subclaims * [Is the underlying technology of "blockchain" useful for non-monetary purposes?](/claims/is-blockchain-tech.md) * [Is web3 even a well-defined term?](/claims/is-well-defined.md) -* [Is web3 green?](/claims/is-web3-green.md) * [Is web3 decentralized?](/claims/is-web3-decentralized.md) * [Is web3 the next generation of the internet?](/claims/is-new-internet.md) diff --git a/claims/is-weird-culture.md b/claims/is-weird-culture.md deleted file mode 100644 index fbf23944..00000000 --- a/claims/is-weird-culture.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,63 +0,0 @@ -# Crypto subculture -The crypto subculture is an example of a self-organizing [high control group](../concepts/high-control-group.md) whose existence organically creates a market mania, [bubble](../concepts/bubble.md) and [narrative economics](../concepts/narrative-economics.md) that entices the public to invest in the asset class or join the group and its subculture. - -Since the asset class is [non-productive](../concepts/productive-asset.md) and [is-negative-sum](is-negative-sum.md) the crypto scheme entirely depends on attracting new investor inflows based on narratives of "money for nothing" and "easy wealth" that clash with traditional readings of [economics](../concepts/keynsian-economics.md). These schemes may also depend on [technosolutionism](../concepts/technosolutionism.md) or [libertarianism](../concepts/libertarianism.md) to justify bringing more [greater fools](../concepts/greater-fool-theory.md) into the scheme. - -Crypto culture depends heavily on a distortion of language to signify belonging to an ingroup and leans heavily on [thought terminating cliches](../concepts/thought-terminating-cliches.md) to quell dissent and rational discourse. Within the crypto [subculture](is-weird-culture.md) there are several thought-terminating cliches. - -* "have fun staying poor" / "hfsp" -* "If you don't believe it or don't get it, I don't have the time to try to convince you" -* "we're all going to make" / "wagmi" -* "we're so early" -* "hold on for dear life" / "hodl" -* "the dollar is a ponzi scheme" / everything is a ponzi" -* "now do the dollar" -* "FUD" -* "few understand" -* "bullish" -* "to the moon" -* "diamond hands" - -## References -1. Venkataramakrishnan, Siddharth, and Robin Wigglesworth. 2021. ‘Inside the Cult of Crypto’. Financial Times, 10 September 2021. https://www.ft.com/content/9e787670-6aa7-4479-934f-f4a9fedf4829. -1. Olson, Dan. 2022. Line Goes Up – The Problem With NFTs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g. -1. Bellinger, M. (2018). The Rhetoric of Bitcoin: Money, Politics, and the Construction of Blockchain Communities [PhD Thesis]. In ResearchWorks Archive. https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/43342 -1. Bernstein, W. J. (2021). The Delusions of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups. Grove Press. -1. Breidbach, C. F., & Tana, S. (2021). Betting on Bitcoin: How social collectives shape cryptocurrency markets. Journal of Business Research, 122, 311–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.017 -1. Brunton, F. (2019). Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency. Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691179490/digital-cash -1. Bruun, M. H., Andersen, A. O., & Mannov, A. (2020). Infrastructures of trust and distrust: The politics and ethics of emerging cryptographic technologies. Anthropology Today, 36(2), 13–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12562 -1. Diehl, S. (2021, February 3). Gamestop, Bitcoin and the Commoditization of Populist Rage. https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/gamestop.html -1. DuPont, Q. (2017). Experiments in algorithmic governance: A history and ethnography of “The DAO,” a failed decentralized autonomous organization. In Bitcoin and beyond (pp. 157–177). Routledge. http://iqdupont.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DuPont-Experiments_in_Algorithmic_Governance-2017.pdf -1. Faria, I. (2021). The market, the regulator, and the government: Making a blockchain ecosystem in the Netherlands. Finance and Society, 7(1), 40–56. https://doi.org/10.2218/finsoc.v7i1.5590 -1. Faustino, S. (2019). How metaphors matter: An ethnography of blockchain-based re-descriptions of the world. Journal of Cultural Economy, 12(6), 478–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2019.1629330 -1. Fletcher, J. (2013). Currency in Transition: An Ethnographic Inquiry of Bitcoin Adherents. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2748/ -1. Gerard, David. 2017. Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts. David Gerard. -1. Gerard, D. (n.d.). Neo-Nazis Bet Big on Bitcoin (And Lost). Retrieved 3 March 2022, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/19/neo-nazis-banked-on-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-farright-christchurch/ -1. Glongloff, M. (n.d.). Bitcoin, GameStop Are More Cults Than Investments. Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-03-02/bitcoin-btc-gamestop-gme-are-more-cults-than-investments -1. Golumbia, D. (2016). The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-wing Extremism. University of Minnesota Press. -1. Hayden, M., & Squire, M. (n.d.). How Cryptocurrency Revolutionized the White Supremacist Movement. Souther Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 3 March 2022, from https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/12/09/how-cryptocurrency-revolutionized-white-supremacist-movement -1. Jarvis, C. (2021). Cypherpunk ideology: Objectives, profiles, and influences (1992–1998). Internet Histories, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2021.1935547 -1. Kavanagh, D., Miscione, G., & Ennis, P. J. (2019). The Bitcoin game: Ethno-resonance as method. Organization, 26(4), 517–536. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508419828567 -1. Kosmarski, A., & Gordiychuk, N. (2021). Anthropology and blockchain. In Anthropology Today (Vol. 37, Issue 6, pp. 1–3). Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12683 -1. Krugman, P. (2022, January 11). The Strange Alliance of Crypto and MAGA Believers. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/opinion/crypto-cryptocurrency-money-conspiracy.html -1. Lee, S. C. (2020). Magical capitalism, gambler subjects: South Korea’s bitcoin investment frenzy. Cultural Studies, 0(0), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2020.1788620 -1. Maddox, A. (2020). Disrupting the Ethnographic Imaginarium: Challenges of Immersion in the Silk Road Cryptomarket Community. Journal of Digital Social Research, 2(1), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v2i1.23 -1. Peebles, G. (2020). Banking on Digital Money: Swedish Cashlessness and the Fraying Currency Tether. Cultural Anthropology, 36(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.14506/ca36.1.01 -1. Penny, L. (2018). Four Days Trapped at Sea With Crypto’s Nouveau Riche. In BREAKERMAG. https://breakermag.com/trapped-at-sea-with-cryptos-nouveau-riche/ -1. Starita, G. D. (2018). On Bitcoin usage, Techno-optimism and Participation-An anthropological perspective on Rovereto s Bitcoin Valley users [Master’s Thesis]. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/374186 -1. Stephenson, W. (n.d.). Cryptonomicon. Harpers Review. Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://harpers.org/archive/2022/03/cryptonomicon-bitcoin-maximalists-miami/ -1. The charm of cryptocurrencies for white supremacists. (2022, February 5). The Economist. https://www.economist.com/united-states/2022/02/05/the-charm-of-cryptocurrencies-for-white-supremacists -1. Tremčinský, M. (2022). Bitcoin and its spheres of consumption: Transactional orders of consuming money in the Czech and Slovak Bitcoin community. Economic Anthropology, 9(1), 35–46. https://doi.org/10.1002/sea2.12189 -1. Valley, B. (2018). On Bitcoin usage, Techno-optimism and Participation (Issue August) [PhD Thesis]. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/374186 -1. Venkataramakrishnan, S., & Wigglesworth, R. (2021, September 10). Inside the cult of crypto. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/9e787670-6aa7-4479-934f-f4a9fedf4829 -1. Warzel, C. (2021, May 11). The Absurdity is the Point [Substack newsletter]. Galaxy Brain. https://warzel.substack.com/p/the-absurdity-is-the-point -1. Weisenthal, J. (n.d.). Bitcoin Is a Faith-Based Asset. Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-21/bitcoin-is-a-faith-based-asset-joe-weisenthal -1. Xu, Y. (2021). Digitizing death: Commodification of joss paper on Chinese online cemetery. Journal of Cultural Economy, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1952099 -1. Faustino, S. (2019). How metaphors matter: An ethnography of blockchain-based re-descriptions of the world. Journal of Cultural Economy, 12(6), 478–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2019.1629330 -1. Penny, L. (2018). Four Days Trapped at Sea With Crypto’s Nouveau Riche. In BREAKERMAG. https://breakermag.com/trapped-at-sea-with-cryptos-nouveau-riche/ -1. Stephenson, W. (n.d.). Cryptonomicon. Harpers Review. Retrieved 2 March 2022, from https://harpers.org/archive/2022/03/cryptonomicon-bitcoin-maximalists-miami/ -1. Faustino, Sandra, Inês Faria, and Rafael Marques. 2021. ‘The Myths and Legends of King Satoshi and the Knights of Blockchain’. Journal of Cultural Economy 0 (0): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2021.1921830. -1. Golumbia, David. 2018. ‘Zealots of the Blockchain: The True Believers of the Bitcoin Cult’. The Baffler, no. 38: 102–11. -1. Lee, Seung Cheol. 2020. ‘Magical Capitalism, Gambler Subjects: South Korea’s Bitcoin Investment Frenzy’. Cultural Studies 0 (0): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502386.2020.1788620. -1. Mackay, Charles. 2012. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Simon and Schuster. -1. Samman, Amin, and Stefano Sgambati. n.d. ‘Financial Eschatology and the Libidinal Economy of Leverage’. Theory, Culture & Society (Forthcoming). https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764211070805. diff --git a/claims/is-why-invest.md b/claims/is-why-invest.md index 4f1bc749..ff30bc65 100644 --- a/claims/is-why-invest.md +++ b/claims/is-why-invest.md @@ -1,11 +1,12 @@ # Why do people invest in crypto assets? + As has been consistently noted [2,3,8] throughout historical [market manias](../concepts/market-mania.md), the behavior of investors is not always rational and the investor herd mentality and [madness of crowds](../concepts/madness-crowds.md) sometimes gives rise to [bubbles](../concepts/bubble.md). Burton Malkiel wrote in his book *A Random Walk Down Wall Street*: > A [bubble](../concepts/bubble.md) starts when any group of stocks, in this case those associated with the excitement of the Internet, begin to rise. The updraft encourages [more people](../concepts/bandwagon-bias.md) to buy the stocks, which causes more TV and print coverage, which causes even more people to buy, which creates big profits for early Internet stockholders. The successful investors tell you at cocktail parties how easy it is to get rich, which causes the stocks to rise further, which pulls in larger and larger groups of investors. But the whole mechanism is a kind of [Ponzi scheme](../concepts/ponzi-scheme.md) where more and more credulous investors must be found to buy the stock from the earlier investors. Eventually, one runs out of [greater fools](../concepts/greater-fool-theory.md) -This coupled with the [subculture](is-weird-culture.md) of crypto assets and a [narrative economics](../concepts/narrative-economics.md) of belonging to a [high control group](../concepts/high-control-group.md) with the promises of [easy money](../concepts/ponzi-scheme.md) is a psychologically enticing proposition for a large demographic. The synthesis of the market mania and the narrative appeal of the culture and its political [imaginaries](is-narrative-economics.md) appears to be the main driver of the crypto bubble. +This coupled with the subculture of crypto assets and a [narrative economics](../concepts/narrative-economics.md) with the promises of [easy money](../concepts/ponzi-scheme.md) is a psychologically enticing proposition for a large demographic. The synthesis of the market mania and the narrative appeal of the culture and its political [imaginaries](is-narrative-economics.md) appears to be the main driver of the crypto bubble. -There is also a strong sample bias in self-reported winnings of crypto assets. With partipants who make outsized returns [gambling](../concepts/gambling.md) on the [bubble](../concepts/bubble.md) are more likely to report this returns compared to the vast majority of those who lost money as guaranteed by the [negative-sum](../concepts/zero-sum-game.md) dynamics of gambling on [crypto assets](../concepts/cryptoasset.md). +There is also a strong sample bias in self-reported winnings of crypto assets. With participants who make outsized returns [gambling](../concepts/gambling.md) on the [bubble](../concepts/bubble.md) are more likely to report this returns compared to the vast majority of those who lost money as guaranteed by the [negative-sum](../concepts/zero-sum-game.md) dynamics of gambling on [crypto assets](../concepts/cryptoasset.md). See [madness of crowds](../concepts/madness-crowds.md), [bubble](../concepts/bubble.md), [market mania](../concepts/market-mania.md), [speculation](../concepts/speculation.md) and [bandwagon bias](../concepts/bandwagon-bias.md). diff --git a/guide/index.md b/guide/index.md index d16813ef..7675ed4e 100644 --- a/guide/index.md +++ b/guide/index.md @@ -650,7 +650,6 @@ Blockchain technology, detached from the sale of crypto assets, has shown no tra * [Is Web3 green?](/claims/is-web3-green) * [Is crypto bringing about the “financialization” of everything?](/claims/is-hyperfinancialization) * [Does building crypto have an opportunity cost?](/claims/is-opportunity-cost) -* [Why does crypto have a weird subculture?](/claims/is-weird-culture) * [Are crypto tokens a means to destroy capitalism?](/claims/is-collapse) ### Library section diff --git a/meta/intercitations-todo.md b/meta/intercitations-todo.md index 60ffd69d..72eaeaa3 100644 --- a/meta/intercitations-todo.md +++ b/meta/intercitations-todo.md @@ -17,5 +17,4 @@ Claims - [ ] [is-bitcoin-currency](../claims/is-bitcoin-currency.md) - [ ] [is-blockchain-tech](../claims/is-blockchain-tech.md) -- [ ] [is-weird-culture](../claims/is-weird-culture.md) - [ ] [is-well-defined](../claims/is-well-defined.md) \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/notes/neo-metallism.md b/notes/neo-metallism.md index d22715dc..aa64c7ae 100644 --- a/notes/neo-metallism.md +++ b/notes/neo-metallism.md @@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ title: Web3, Bitcoin and Neo-metallism created: 2022-04-13 date: 2022-02-17 image: /img/Neo-metallism_Thumb_vo3dhs.png -description: "In this episode we examine Bitcoin and the Neo-Metallist thesis, i.e. that a gold-standard was a good idea and a Bitcoin-standard would be even better." +description: "Evaluating the Bitcoin and Neo-Metallist thesis: Bitcoin is a better gold, a gold-standard was good monetary policy, and thus that a Bitcoin-standard would be a better gold-standard" youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/_o7pRFLzJHY podcast: https://anchor.fm/life-itself/episodes/Stephen-Diehl-on-Web3--Bitcoin--Neometalism-e1f5rca featured: true -aliases: notes/neo-metallism.md +aliases: [Neo-metallism, neo-metallism] --- * Wiki topic: [is-digital-gold](../claims/is-digital-gold.md) diff --git a/notes/web3-dystopia.md b/notes/web3-dystopia.md index 63c7c90a..599c0f70 100644 --- a/notes/web3-dystopia.md +++ b/notes/web3-dystopia.md @@ -150,7 +150,6 @@ From the video description on YouTube. * [capitalism](../concepts/capitalism.md) * [high-control-group](../concepts/high-control-group.md) * [thought-terminating-cliches](../concepts/thought-terminating-cliches.md) -* [is-weird-culture](../claims/is-weird-culture.md) * [regulatory-arbitrage](../concepts/regulatory-arbitrage.md) **Sources**