**Farewell to Traditional Currencies: Embracing Cryptocurrencies Amidst the Boredom of Extinction**
Cryptocurrencies have become a crucial element in the right-wing libertarian project, as they offer an avenue for undermining government control and accelerating environmental degradation. According to Jonas Staal, author of "Climate Propagandas," the misuse of digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with thousands of others, can potentially lead to a warming of the planet to catastrophic levels within just two decades.
As part of their vision for off-world colonies and ultra-rich enclaves, libertarians leveraging cryptocurrencies seek to dismantle the existing administrative state and create a new, privatized order. Former President Donald Trump, known as the "crypto president," actively builds a national stockpile of bitcoin and other digital currencies, with his family reportedly profiting billions from crypto schemes.
Cryptocurrencies operate through blockchain technology, which was first introduced anonymously by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. This decentralized currency operates without government or banking oversight, embodying the libertarian dream of removing regulatory power over capital production, distribution, and management. However, established financial institutions aim to capitalize on this market.
Libertarian propagandists are strong supporters of the cryptocurrency market, with Elon Musk's companies holding $1.5 billion in Bitcoin before he became a key figure in the Dogecoin craze. The value of Dogecoin skyrocketed following Musk's endorsement, ultimately leading to his creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify government inefficiencies and potentially dismantle the administrative state.
The blockchain's decentralized nature poses challenges for taxation, allowing countries like Bermuda, Malta, Gibraltar, and Liechtenstein to create crypto havens. While blockchain technology holds promise for transformative applications, such as rethinking voting processes and energy grid management, it fosters inequality. Only those with the means to purchase digital currency or the ability to perform mining can disproportionately influence the number of coins circulating and their value on the market.
Despite its devastating environmental footprint, the crypto industry has expanded into areas like renewable energy and carbon offset schemes, particularly in the art world. Staggering sums are spent on NFTs—digital artworks with unique ledgers stored on the blockchain—that contribute to a culture of racial and gender violence, according to Staal. For instance, digital artist Mike Winkelmann, or "beeple," generated $67 million for an NFT artwork that depicted the dark underbelly of social media misogyny, homophobia, and racism.
The United Nations hosted an NFT art exhibition highlighting climate change at the 2021 Climate Change Conference in Scotland, embracing the technology that accelerates ecological crises despite its environmental costs. In Staal's view, this underscores the "climate propaganda extinction loop," where proposed solutions to crises justify further damage, ultimately deepening the crisis itself.
In conclusion, the connection between libertarian beliefs, cryptocurrencies, and environmental harm is marked by crypto serving as a tool for libertarian ideologues to pursue radical decentralization and privatization, often at the expense of the planet. According to Staal, they intentionally perpetuate environmental crises while profiting from their solutions, ultimately seeking to engineer new systems on the ruins of the old.
- The misuse of digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to Jonas Staal, could potentially result in a catastrophic warming of the planet within two decades, exacerbating climate-change issues.
- Libertarians, including former President Donald Trump, are stockpiling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and other digital currencies, often for reasons tied to their political ideologies and desire for financial independence from government control.
- The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, such as those operated through blockchain technology, poses challenges for taxation and regulation, making them attractive for countries seeking to create crypto havens.
- While blockchain technology holds the potential for transformative applications, like rethinking voting processes and energy grid management, it also fosters inequality, as those with means or mining capabilities can disproportionately influence the market.
- The crypto industry, despite its environmental footprint, has begun to explore areas like renewable energy and carbon offset schemes, but it has also been criticized for contributing to a culture of racial and gender violence, as seen in the high prices paid for NFT artworks.
- The United Nations, in an ironic twist, hosted an NFT art exhibition at the 2021 Climate Change Conference in Scotland, showcasing technology that aggravates ecological crises despite its environmental costs.
- Jonas Staal views this as a "climate propaganda extinction loop," in which proposed solutions to crises justify further damage, ultimately deepening the crises themselves, and as a strategy by libertarian ideologues to profit by engineering new systems on the ruins of the old.
