Cryptoeconomics as Engine of Commoning

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Discussion

Nathan Schneider:

"A growing body of analysis interprets cryptoeconomics and its associated technologies as engines of commoning, in the spirit of Elinor Ostrom (Cila et al., 2020; Fritsch et al., 2021; Reijers et al., 2016; Rozas et al., 2021, 2018). There is much to commend this approach, as participant-governed blockchains do seem to resemble common-pool resources. Yet there are respects in which cryptoeconomics also resembles an opposite of the commons: the enclosure, in which what was once held in common become subdivided into ownable, tradeable assets (Federici, 2004). Under cryptoeconomics, things previously difficult or impossible to buy or sell, from cryptographic computing power to real estate in digital games, have become the basis of markets. Notably, cryptoeconomic markets depend on some sort of artificial scarcity, such as Nakamoto’s limit on supply at 21 million bitcoins. More invasive forms of enclosure and scarcity could follow. In the past, major advances in commodification produced markets for enslaving human beings and conquering the once-common lands of indigenous peoples.Such comparisons might seem alarmist if cryptoeconomic enthusiasts were not setting their world-transforming sights so high."

(https://osf.io/wzf85/?view_only=a10581ae9a804aa197ac39ebbba05766)