Crypto’s Culture War
For years, cryptocurrency skeptics have posed a simple question: what’s the use case? While proponents have struggled to articulate a compelling answer, they often tout blockchain technology as a revolutionary invention, a brilliant way to document ownership online and cultivate digital communities. They also envision it as a foundation for a hyper-financialized internet, where buying a cartoon image of an ape for millions doesn’t require human intermediaries.
Then there are the cryptocurrencies themselves: Bitcoin, Ether, and the unending stream of memecoins and startup tokens. These are high-volatility, speculative assets that individuals trade, joke about, hold as stores of value, and sometimes, become incredibly wealthy or suffer massive losses from. Cryptocurrency has legitimate uses. But the persistent criticism has been that the technology is overly complex and doesn’t offer anything the existing financial system can’t already provide. Critics argue that crypto is a technological solution in search of a problem.
While I’ve reported on the world of NFTs and crypto-based decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), I’ve yet to discover a truly “killer app.”
However, the recent political landscape has triggered a reevaluation of crypto’s influence. Cryptocurrency’s most powerful transformative product is not a service, but a culture–one that is, at its core, deeply distrustful of institutions and sympathetic to those who want to dismantle or troll them. The election results were, at least in part, a rejection of traditional authorities (the federal government, public health, even the media), and crypto played a role in this transition. The industry formed a super PAC that raised over $200 million to support crypto-friendly politicians.
Donald Trump has embraced the technology, supporting World Liberty Financial, a new crypto startup platform for decentralized finance. He offered assurances that he would fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler, known for his regulatory stance on the crypto industry, and pledged deregulation to “ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet.” During his campaign, Trump directly appealed to crypto supporters, stating, “If you’re in favor of crypto, you’d better vote for Trump.”
At least in the short term, crypto’s defining legacy appears to be the construction of a culture of true believers, techno-utopians, grifters, criminals, dupes, investors, and pandering politicians. Investments in this technology have enriched many of these people, who have then used that money to try to create a world in their image.
Crypto’s Philosophical Roots
Though the original white paper for Bitcoin, a foundational document for crypto overall, does not explicitly discuss politics, cryptocurrency was rapidly adopted and championed by cyberlibertarians. Their fundamental belief is that governments should not regulate the internet. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are built on decentralized blockchains, which do not require a central authority or middleman to function. David Golumbia, in his book The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism, noted how many Bitcoin advocates portray the Federal Reserve as a corrupt institution.
Today, crypto culture is more diffuse. Exchanges like Coinbase and Robinhood have opened trading markets to anyone with a bank account. Celebrities and meme lords create new coins based on viral trends. Day traders hope to capitalize on speculation tokens. Crypto culture, with its unique jargon and imagery, can feel alienating. The industry’s association with Ponzi schemes and defrauding retail investors is worthy of criticism. And yet, cryptocurrencies have minted a generation of millionaires, billionaires, and corporate war chests. And now they are using their wealth to influence politics.
Trump and Crypto: An Alliance of Convenience?
Trump’s alliance with the crypto community raises questions of philosophy and gain. Trump is known for his affinity for wealth. For supporters, the appeal of his administration revolves in part around his promises to gut the federal government, an anti-establishment ethos, and a willingness to exact retribution against political enemies.
Molly White, a researcher covering the cryptocurrency industry, suggests a parallel with the MAGA movement: a desire to become the powerful institutions they claim to despise. Original crypto ideology was that governments and large financial institutions should not be part of the new paradigm.
In a second Trump administration, the crypto industry and its leadership might see their wishes come true. The industry could see regulations declaring tokens as commodities, easing trading restrictions. Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner and a pro-crypto voice, to run the SEC. The announcement caused the price of bitcoin to surge.
The Flywheel Effect
The connection between crypto and politics has created a flywheel effect. The technology has become a political constituency not because of its undeniable utility, but because it has generated immense wealth for a select few. The industry courts politicians with its financial influence, and politicians pander for donations by making promises. Pro-crypto candidates win elections, and Bitcoin prices surge, enriching this same circle and thereby increasing their ability to exert more influence. This cycle could easily be used for the acquisition of bribes.
There is speculation that Trump could create a strategic reserve of bitcoins in the U.S., involving the government buying a massive amount of bitcoins annually, potentially using the country’s gold reserves. For large crypto holders, this would move wealth from the government to their coffers, effectively allowing them to sell their assets to the government while simultaneously pumping up the price. Such actions could be used by cryptocurrency leaders to further their own political agendas and wealth accumulation, at the expense of the populations they allegedly serve.
Cryptocurrencies ultimately have a very concrete use case: they have helped to build a culture that celebrates greed and speculation as virtues—a culture uniquely suited to the turbulence and distrust of the 2020s, and the potential nihilism and corruption of the Trump era.
