Bitcoin & Libertarianism

Bitcoin has become extremely popular in recent years, but the most recent developments have seen in incorporated formally into several economies across the world. In Russia, China, Japan and India (all significantly massive economies) Bitcoin and cryptocurrency has already been validated by their respective governments. In India, cryptocurrency trade, and more specifically Bitcoin has accounted for unbanked members of its society (hundreds of millions) to join dimension of the economy that was previously underperforming severely. Companies that trade in the market of Bitcoin exchange in India, like Bitxoxo, Coinbase and Zebpay have all established themselves definitively as top Bitcoin exchanges options for people looking to buy & sell Bitcoin in India, much to their profitable benefit.

But Bitcoin’s decentralized nature finds itself appealing paradoxically with many people who hold Libertarian points of view. 

In an article for "ToughNickel" Jack Shorebird chimes in on this topic and begins his approach to it with this Ayn Rand quote,“‘Money cannot function as money, i.e., as a medium of exchange, unless it is backed by actual, unconsumed goods.’”

He carries on by stating that the revolutionizing feature cryptocurrency has is that it hasn’t a need for intrinsic value to validate their monetary worth. That they aren’t gold and have need of being gold; he states that crucial point is that Bitcoin (and therefore other cryptocurrencies) are backed by an unconsumed good.

Oddly, what this rabbit hole leads us towards is the inference that Bitcoin might be incapable of functioning as money. Shorebird states that “Cryptocurrency, with a handful of exceptions, isn’t a practical form of money, at least not yet.” And he continues to say “Dollars, euros and British pounds aren’t practical either, as dollars, for example, aren’t really backed by anything at all.”

Not many individuals whose views don’t overlap with those of committed Libertarians would ever say that currencies like dollars or euros are not actually money. They do have backers,  and those would be the countries that issue those currencies, as they are backed by the faith and credit of the nations that issue them, and that’s specifically the type of backing Bitcoin lacks.