Please refer to the INTRO, DISCLOSURE, and DISCLAIMER sections at the end of this article, prior to reading the content.

 

Most people interested in cryptocurrency, even if not already involved, have noticed that another market “crash” happened in May of this year. It is easy, after reading and listening to the news, to conclude that the crypto market is full of scams, and that, fundamentally, cryptocurrency itself is a fad/scam.

This cannot be further from the truth.

I will cut to the chase and refer to the key aspect of crypto-currency that makes it revolutionary and why I would like my fellow libertarians and freedom-lovers to benefit from this technological game-changer.

I am referring to decentralization. This is a term that should not be foreign to most of you. To quote Wikipedia:

Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group.

As a libertarian, I am sure you will agree we want power and decision-making processes to move away from a government or monolithic/monopolistic organization to the “edges”. These edges are the people, or at least, representatives of these people that are much “closer” to the people they represent, culturally and geographically. The ideal is people make their own decisions rather than being told how to live their lives by apathetic others.

Any currency in itself can be decentralized or centralized. The Canadian dollar (CAD) is centralized, governed by the Bank of Canada, a government organization. Cryptocurrency can also be governed by a centralized organization. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two leading cryptocurrencies, and are decentralized. They are governed in a decentralized way, vs by a small group of oligarchs.

This cuts over to the main point of this article. Centralized cryptocurrencies and associated organizations are no better than centralized currencies and organizations. In fact, they can be worse, as they lack any regulation or transparency that MAY benefit traditional currencies and organizations. Unfortunately, many crypto companies have deceptively been claiming to have the benefits of decentralized organizations, and enticing people to invest their money with them. A crypto-company that is centralized needs to maintain at least as much transparency and regulation as does a non-crypto-company.

Some notable examples of deceptive crypto companies are Terra and Celsius, two companies that have suffered meltdowns and shutdowns in the past 6 weeks. These companies are NOT decentralized, yet they have claimed to be. They also have little transparency on how they manage investor money. Ironically, despite the meltdown in the crypto-currency industry, genuinely decentralized crypto-currencies have not shut down and in fact, are operating business as usual. Indeed, the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum have gone down, but that is related to a combination of disinformation about crypto (that this article hopes to dispel) and a general drawdown in the world economy.

Takeaway: cryptocurrencies are NOT all created equal. Look for organizations that are decentralized. This refers to the governance of the organization and its cryptocurrency. If the cryptocurrency is centralized, ensure there is total transparency and external regulation.

IF YOU WISH TO GO FURTHER

If you wish to go further into this topic, research the term DAO, which stands for “Decentralized Autonomous Organization”, and read up more about decentralization. Or check out this video, which is a technical but beautifully presented explanation of DAO’s. This is where I think the future should be going: services backed by organizations where everyone can participate in governance, and where your say is dictated directly by the amount of skin you have in the game.

Here is an interesting video blog from a prize-winning journalist, who goes on to debase crypto-currency. This person argues against all the publicity and ads that deceive people into using scammy crypto services. But he is also deceiving the public by lumping all crypto into one, over-simplified and not-well-thought-out basket.

An excellent documentary that, while unrelated directly to cryptocurrency, discusses how money, as we know it, is becoming worthless. Indirectly speaking, it is a worthy argument to the astute listener, on the correctness and right timing of cryptocurrencies.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I am Neeraj Murarka, member of the BC Libertarian Party. I ran in the 2017 provincial election as the Libertarian candidate for Burnaby-Lougheed. I also ran in the 2019 Federal Election as a member of the Libertarian Party of Canada.

I am a computer scientist and mathematician, having 25+ years of experience in the technology industry. I’m a cryptocurrency enthusiast on both the technology and economics/politics/ecosystem behind crypto.

 

FULL DISCLOSURE

I am the founder and CTO of a company in the crypto space, called Bluzelle.

 

DISCLAIMER

All the information provided here is for educational and informational purposes alone. There is no express or implied warranty of any kind. This includes no warranties on accuracy, completeness, nor fitness for any particular purpose.

Information is not intended to be nor does it constitute financial advice, trading advice, investment advice, nor any other kind of advice. Investment and trading of cryptocurrencies has rewards and risks. It is not for everyone. Please seek your own advisory prior to using any information provided herein.