David Golumbia's The Politics of Bitcoin: Software As Right-Wing Extremism

Abstract

Many see bitcoin as a clever piece of code; an alternative payment mechanism; or a proof-of-concept for the underlying blockchain technology. David Golumbia sees it as right-wing extremism. In his new book, The Politics of Bitcoin, Golumbia argues that bitcoin was designed to “satisfy needs that make sense only in the context of right-wing politics”; that “Bitcoin enthusiasts repackage material from [right-wing extremist] writers almost verbatim” and, as such, “Bitcoin serves […] to spread and firmly root” the right-wing ideology. But the overall narrative put forward by Golumbia breaks down when one scratches the surface.

Keywords: bitcoin, ideology, software, extremism, right-wing, poltics

JEL Classification: E40, E41, E42, E50, E51, E58