Early bitcoin politics: Digital metallism vs Infrastructural mutualism

For this week's interview I spoke with Matt Cropp (@MattCropp), a Co-Director of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, where he works on public education, outreach, and the conversion of businesses to employee ownership for ownership succession. Matt has a really interesting profile in that he was involved in bitcoin during the early years and actually used it during the Occupy Wall Street protests for mutual aid.

During the interview we spoke about his involvement with earning and using bitcoin during Occupy Wall Street, his explanation of the political makeup of the bitcoin community during those days, and how he imagines coops could benefit from the use of blockchain / crypto in the future.

Sources
Social.coop Mastodon Instance
Matt Cropp's Mastodon
The Blockchain Socialist Mastodon
Matt Cropp's Credit Union History Blog with some musings on early bitcoin
Grassroots Economic Organizing Coop

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ICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking.

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