298. The Libertarian Roots of Cryptocurrency feat. Finn Brunton

unSILOed with Greg LaBlanc · Jun 28, 2023 · 1h 2m

If you start to dig into the origin story of cryptocurrency, don’t be surprised if you find the ideas and values of the American Libertarian movement all over it. Finn Brunton teaches science and technology studies at UC Davis and is fascinated by the historical narratives and subcultures behind modern technology. His books include Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency and Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet (Infrastructures). Finn and Greg discuss how spammers and scammers were actually some of the earliest adopters of…