Digital Money as Revolution

Dr. John Carter McKnightMCS 333 Guest Lecture

February 2014

what is money?

unit of account

http://www.thechuckchapman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bar-Tab.jpg

store of value

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17kdjxvdqvygyjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg

medium of exchange

http://cdn.moneycrashers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/hands-car-keys-cash.jpg

what’s the difference between….

http://static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110413031026/monopoly/images/d/d6/$10.jpg http://currencyguide.eu/gbp-en/10-pound-note.jpg

what’s the difference between…

http://www.mattsbits.co.uk/user_media/uploaded_media/hsbc_example_output.png

http://currencyguide.eu/gbp-en/10-pound-note.jpghttp://currencyguide.eu/gbp-en/10-pound-note.jpg

digital money in global context

http://pixelballads.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/m-pesa-cell-phone.jpg http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/9/2011/10/goldfarming.jpg

the money nutter hyperbola

“Money Nutters” by Bill Maurereconomic sociology_the european electronic newsletter Volume 12, Number 3 (July 2011)

curve one: the digital local

http://www.rgtb.org.uk/img/stall.JPG

curve two: the libertarian abstraction

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/9571605/Dogecoin_logo_large_verge_medium_landscape.png

nutters or revolutionaries?

http://www.wired.com/business/2014/02/rise-fall-rise-patrick-byrne/?cid=co18332484

what does the hyperbola tell us?

While the Brixton Pound and bitcoin are both alternative currencies that don’t rely on the Bank of England, they attract users for different reasons.

“In reality, bitcoin tends to appeal to a very different crowd. Local currencies are all about building community ties, whereas bitcoin [...] is focused on preserving personal autonomy and personal wealth”

-Brett Scott

http://www.coindesk.com/local-london-currency-thrives-bitcoins-shadow/

what’s at the center?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w1WEV6dQ3gw/TZ848aZTvCI/AAAAAAAAASg/QF5PGDkXHG0/s1600/from-counterculture-to-cyberculture-stewart-brand-the-whole-earth-network-and-the-rise-of-digital-utopianism.jpg

is the hyperbola revolutionary?

•do you think either curve can change things?

•what about the ideas at the [common] center?

•what happens if there isn’t a money revolution?

what about a state-driven digital moneycounter-revolution?

(see also, “death by unreliable metadata”)- https://firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/02/10/the-nsas-secret-role/

+http://pixelballads.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/m-pesa-cell-phone.jpghttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/21/ukraine-unrest-text-messages-protesters-mass-riot

what kinds of revolution

… do the arms of the hyperbola point to?

who wins?who loses? does the medium matter? (hint: yes)

contact

j.mcknight@lancaster.ac.uk

@john_carter

johncartermcknight.com