According to Marxist writer Erkin Özalp, Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are bubbles and they are bound to burst.. Blockchain technology can be useful. In an interview Özalp gave to Cumhuriyet newspaper, he made statements about bitcoin and blockchain. We can learn what Marxist individuals think about these technologies from Özalp’s answers.
Here are the headlines from that interview…
Are Bitcoin and other virtual currencies a bubble or do they have a real basis?
I think these are balloons inflating above a real floor. The crisis of 2007-2008 once again showed that states can devalue the money they issue at any time and confiscate people’s savings in banks.. It was in such an environment that the idea of creating a currency independent of the states was realized and received a response.. On the other hand, like all other speculative bubbles in the past, this bubble can provide easy returns for those who invest in it as long as it continues to inflate.. The fact that those who are newly informed that big profits can be made thanks to cryptocurrencies start to invest in them, making it possible for the bubbles to continue to inflate.. They will explode sooner or later, for sure.
How does blockchain affect the financial system?
“Blockchain”, or blockchain technology, is money made for completely illegal business. While making money transfers easier, it makes normal money transfers more difficult.. The popularity of cryptocurrencies is not because they have disabled the financial system, but because they have gained in value speculatively.. On the other hand, today large financial companies and capitalist states are also developing projects to leverage blockchain technology because of the potential for a more reliable record-keeping system to reduce costs.. Any new technology also presents new possibilities for big capitalists and capitalist states who can make the most investment in it.
Speculative Bubble
How in the world? could lead to a transformation?. The strength of national currencies depends on the economic power represented by the states that issue them.. I do not think that cryptocurrencies, whose market values fluctuate too much for purely speculative reasons, have no risk of being stolen or lost, and will lose value entirely sooner or later, can lead to a larger or different transformation compared to the speculative bubbles created by the financial sector.
Venezuela announced that it will issue its own virtual currency and aims to circumvent the US financial sanctions in this way.. Do you think this is a realistic plan?
As far as I can see, there is no serious plan.. If a currency that is independent of government interventions is to be created like other cryptocurrencies, there will be no difference between using one of the existing cryptocurrencies and using that currency.. Otherwise, if a government-controlled currency will be created, there will be no difference between the country’s current currency, the Bolívar, and this new currency.
Marxist Author: Great Splurge
Meanwhile, we are facing one of the biggest extravagances in human history.. Currently, the annual amount of energy spent for Bitcoin mining, that is, for performing mathematical operations that do not have the slightest benefit to humanity, has exceeded Denmark’s total energy expenditure for one year.
Virtual currencies and Does blockchain provide new possibilities for egalitarian society designs?
In an egalitarian society, there will be no need or place for cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology, which has the potential to make it easier for people to work together towards common goals, in addition to providing a more reliable record-keeping system, is a candidate to provide new possibilities.. But it should not be thought that any technology, by its very nature and inevitably, will pave the way for an egalitarian society.. To date, the most significant attempts to create organizations free of government interference using blockchain technology have only increased existing inequalities, as they are based on existing relations of production and property.
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