Karl Marx, the father of Marxism and a popular communist leader, wrote the Communist Manifesto and presented his perceptions about how the world and economics work. In his view, capitalism was flawed and the world would eventually move towards communism where each person will earn the just rewards of their labor. While he did predict such a huge paradigm shift, he failed to express how this would happen.
Marx believed that power will become decentralized and will be distributed among people. This will eventually perish bureaucracy.
You might wonder where the crypto technology comes in here. The blockchain technology depends on a ledger in which each transaction is recorded. It’s transparent and open to everyone. Not controlled by any single authority, it might be the ideal scenario that communists dream of.
People all over the world have huge expectations of cryptocurrency because of the power it has. It can replace not just existing currencies but also the entire political and economic structures.
Bitcoin has also had its share of criticism from communists who hate it because it has made many people billionaires. Also, many communists hold the view that cryptocurrencies offer no reward for labor but rather are a form of economic lottery or pyramid. Again, there are several crypto takers in the communist and socialist camps.
Let’s see how these views are divided.
Bitcoin gets support from communists because the whole system is about decentralizing the structure and removing power from the hands of a “chosen few.” However, since it’s new, the views are divided. Some socialists view crypto as a way of getting rid of the shackles of being wage slaves, others view Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a capitalist idea.
According to communism ideology, every worker should get rewards for their labor. And each person should get equal rewards for the work they do. And this is what Bitcoin fulfills. Since there is no central regulatory authority working on cryptocurrencies, the entire system is divided and P2P, which makes it communist. Miners mine blocks and are rewarded for each block they mine.
It is this nature of cryptocurrencies that make several people believe that this new and digital currency is actually communist in nature.
Some communists have the view that since cryptocurrencies are decentralized and untraceable, they can help in a financial revolution and may even “destabilize the present banking scenario.” They believe that the crypto revolution might actually give rise to communism and “a perfect economy.”
Opposing views believe that miners use their previously acquired capital to mine crypto, which makes it capitalist in nature. Communists want a stateless and moneyless society and want the abolishment of capital. Cryptocurrency might be a replacement for traditional money but it is still money nonetheless. And it has the power to generate capital, which is why it is considered largely capitalistic in nature.
Different people have different views and it’s still a debatable issue as to which economic system does Bitcoin fall into.
Whatever views people have, one thing is for sure – many people agree that crypto has the power to change the present economic scenario. While there are others that still believe that crypto is a “bubble” that’s going to burst soon, most have realized its potential and agree that it’s here to stay and can replace traditional economies in the coming years.
The above represents the author’s opinion.