Proponents of crypto tend to see criticism as a product of ignorance. They’ll suggest thehaters and naysayers simply don’t understand the workings of blockchain technology. Sceptics are accused of being shills for the global banking system or henchmen for some corrupt government. But I’m not a fan of banking. And I wasn’t always a crypto sceptic. When I first came across the technology as a cure-all for international development and conservation, I was intrigued. There was something inherently subversive in crypto. It connected with my activist tendencies. I didn’t fully understand the technical details back then. But I was very excited to learn and experiment with blockchain. The prospect of reimaging what money could be was like reimagining power itself.

Howson, Peter

Osberton Productions Ltd

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

An essential resource. Howson strikes not just at cryptocurrency, but the frauds who promote blockchain technology as a solution to any social problem David Gerard, author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain
A merciless takedown of attempts to apply blockchain to the worlds biggest problems ... If you are thinking of using blockchain for good, read this first Professor Villi Lehdonvirta, University of Oxford
The subject of immense hope, hype and confusion, crypto has amassed countless headlines in recent years. With cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverse markets crashing, the underlying blockchain technology is still promised to solve global development challenges, and revolutionise every industry. But is the technology really a silver bullet?
Peter Howson cuts through the jargon and bluster to tell an alarming story of how right-wing libertarian crypto entrepreneurs often aided by charities, politicians and philanthropists seek out and exploit conditions of poverty, oppression, corruption and conflict. Their goal? A new front of crypto-colonial extractivism. Let Them Eat Crypto reveals the alarming far from banking the unbanked, saving the gorillas, or freeing people from oppressive governments, blockchain offers only false solutions, surveillance and hi-tech snake oil.
Peter Howson is a technology writer, researcher and Assistant Professor in International Development at Northumbria University. His work has appeared in Reuters , The Independent , The Conversation , Novara , Jacobin and Coindesk . He investigates the green-washing, aid-washing and crypto-shenanigans that go on in Silicon Valley, as well as the lesser-known tech-hubs of the Global South.

'An essential resource. Howson strikes not just at cryptocurrency, but the frauds who promote blockchain technology as a solution to any social problem' - David Gerard, author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain
The subject of immense hope, hype and confusion, crypto has amassed countless headlines in recent years. With cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverse markets crashing, the underlying blockchain technology is still promised to solve global development challenges, and revolutionise every industry. But is the technology really a silver bullet?
Peter Howson cuts through the jargon and bluster to tell an alarming story of how right-wing libertarian crypto entrepreneurs - often aided by charities, politicians and philanthropists - seek out and exploit conditions of poverty, oppression, corruption and conflict. Their goal? A new front of 'crypto-colonial' extractivism.
Let Them Eat Crypto reveals the alarming truth: far from 'banking the unbanked', saving the gorillas, or freeing people from oppressive governments, blockchain offers only false solutions, surveillance and hi-tech snake oil.

2024-05-04