Cryptocurrency Explained: Money as a System-of-Control
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited in discussions of cryptocurrency, KYC/AML and financial surveillance as a framing of money as a tool of control.
What it is
Andreas Antonopoulos argues that money has a fourth function beyond store of value, medium of exchange and unit of account, which is as a system of control. He covers the history of money and why it does not flow freely.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2017 to 2020.
What Hacker News said
Recommends joshfraser · 2020-09 · on “FinCEN Files show trillions in tainted dollars flow freely through major banks”
All money is dirty. Most people don't question the provenance of their money, but every bill in your wallet contains trace amounts of cocaine. Every dollar you have has been involved in some sort of grey or black market transaction. Your money has also been used to fund an enormous amount of legally sanctioned atrocities around the world. You're not a bad person for accepting it. The money itself is amoral. When people talk about cracking down on "tainted dollars", they're really talking about power. In 1970, Richard Nixon signed the Bank Secrecy Act and turned money into a system of control, the system of control that attempts to use money as a political tool in order to control who is able
Cites tacon · 2017-12 · on “Why you can’t cash out pt 2: Bitcoin and KYC/AML”
"But what happens when a fourth use of money is introduced, one which subordinates all the other characteristics: money as a system of control?" [this video]
Critical AlexCoventry · 2017-10 · on “Ask HN: Resources to learn blockchain and smart contracts?”
> is this heavy on marketing, cheerleading and kool-aid? I haven't looked at the book, but the author is, a bit. Here's a somewhat banana-pants talk he recently gave. [this video]