Editorial | Vitalek Buterin Has Spoken: Cryptocurrencies Embody Egalitarian Spirit: Avoid ICOs With Volume-based Bonuses
In a recent tweet, cryptocurrency prophet and Satoshi Nakamoto disciple, Vitalek Buterin, has urged the crypto community to avoid ICOs with volume-based bonuses because they are not in-line with the egalitarian spirit of crypto where everyone has an equal chance at wealth.
The idea that cryptocurrency’s first prodigal son, Bitcoin, was created specifically with a egalitarian spirit isn’t far-fetched, but no one is certain. Bitcoin’s creator is a mystery and the whitepaper doesn’t say anything about Bitcoin being a panacea for central banking any more than it is a requirement that all future cryptocurrencies be egalitarian in nature. Yet, early Bitcoin adopters believe that Bitcoin was a gift from the all-might himself and a great equalizing weapon for the proletariat can use to smite the elite class for their sins.
It’s not a coincidence that the Bitcoin birth subsequent history has religious similarities. Cryptocurrencies exert religious properties and the longer you have spent in the cryptocurrency community, the more likely you will be amenable to believe that cryptocurrencies were created with a higher purpose in mind. This means a lot of folks in the crypto community take criticism to what they believe is the spirit of cryptocurrency very personally.
This is a great post titled "Why Bitcoin is a Religion" that makes the argument that cryptocurrencies function as distinct religious beliefs.
Even if your blockchain enthusiasm doesn’t reach the religious portion of the spectrum, there are people in the crypto community that follow Crypto Anarchy principles and share libertarian values where the dispersing and decentralization of power are among the key tenets.
My point is that you can find a vast number of different ideological beliefs within the crypto world where there are not a lot of moderate views.
I’ve observed that these ideological views can stem from a position where you either understand the nature of cryptocurrencies or you don’t. In other words, if you “get it” then there is no way you can possibly conclude that crypto isn’t egalitarian or libertarian.
If you don’t believe in at least some of the common views between radical ideologies, then you don’t deserve the inherent benefits that cryptocurrencies provide. It’s amounts to the same level of transgression when a non-believer fakes their devotion just to hedge their bets at the existence of an after-life.
As a result, anything or anyone that is entering the market, and can be construed as being a part of a government or wall street, is met with a harsh response from the community. Take my recent post about derivative king, CME Group, initiating Bitcoin futures in December as an example where some view the news as an indication that cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream, while others view CME Group as a Wall Street entity that signifies everything that cryptocurrencies stands for by linking it to the potential to introduce Wall Street-level manipulation.
I don’t feel strongly enough at this point to take a side, but circling back to Vitalek’s point, spirit or not, anything that incentivizes the wealthy to invest by giving them bonuses above other classes is obviously not an equitable distribution method.
Vitalek makes a good point but whether volume bonuses chip away at cryptocurrency’s overall value is debatable. The topic certainly needs more discussion.
I personally don’t think it’s enough to dissuade me from avoiding a cryptocurrency with a vision I believe in, because there are rarely absolutes in the world and if a cryptocurrency is just a little “evil” then I can overlook their distribution method to keep in mind that its existence is a benefit for the great good. If that means that some of us didn’t have an equal chance at wealth, so be it.
The cryptocurrency spirit isn’t religious law and its followers aren’t priests that have made the same level of sacrifice that Satoshi made when he absolved himself from the sin of greed by walking away from a Bitcoin fortune fit for a king.
In sum, Vitalek makes a good point, but whether volume bonuses chip away at cryptocurrency’s overall global value is debatable.
I don’t claim to have exact answers, but there are many interesting cryptocurrency topics in regard to ideological preferences that certainly needs more examination and discussion.
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Traversing the Cryptosphere,
Kryptonaut
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Nice write up, I love the way you point out that its a libertarian based system and if you can't see that you need to go somewhere else. This is really my first few weeks actually doing more than just look at coin prices. The idea of mining and having a decentralized system of monetary value that the governments can't claim as their own is nice. The way that ethereum is setup is mind blowing. Vitalek can almost be a god in his own right at this point for all the work he has done with this tool. I like the idea of ICOs as well and generally agree that you shouldn't get a discount for being rich. That just irritates the crap out of me, but at the same time if I like the token I'd still buy into it. The point you make about about believing in the vision of the token is paramount to me as well. If something looks useful I'm all for it.
Belief systems are fascinating and it can run very deep for people in the crypto world.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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Thanks for this interesting article.
You are very welcome!
Nice thought provoking point of view. I just joined crypto world from two months and one thing I have learnt from reading history of crypto that apart from technological aspects, the success of crypto has been dependent mostly on human psychology. Most of the crypto "advisors" were either wrong or were trying to manipulate psychology of masses. I feel that collective wisdom of common people has deeper insight than famed enthusiasts.
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