Manfred Steger, in his book “Globalization: A very short introduction”, said that Globality signifies a social condition characterized by the existence of global economic, political, cultural, and environmental interconnections and flows that make many of the currently existing borders and boundaries irrelevant; and that globalization was the process leading to it.
International trade policy, global financial markets, worldwide flows of goods, services, and labour, transnational corporations, offshore financial centres, foreign direct investment, and the new international economic institutions are all manifestations of a world constantly moving towards (and away from) new stages of globality. In such an era, a new economic phenomenon has risen – The Bitcoin.
In short, Bitcoin is a private digital currency that is not backed by any government, central bank or organization. It is completely decentralized. People are trusting Bitcoin more than many government-backed currencies, causing a rise in its value from a few cents to about $1,200. Anyone can send Bitcoins to anyone, anywhere in the world, at extremely low transaction costs.
For the technical details about how they are generated, bought, sold, and used, one can always find google as a willing teacher. In this article, it is my intention to explore some of the caveats that might render Bitcoins and similar crypto-currencies as equally undemocratic forms of modern market inventions as the existing capitalistic economy.
“The US Federal Reserve Bank is over 95 percent privately-owned, is not integrated into the US Government, nor accountable to any branch of government. There is nothing “Federal” about it as it lies fully outside the government system of checks-and-balances,” wrote Adrian Salbuchi, a political analyst, on RT.
According to Adrian, the FRB arbitrarily prints all the money the mega-bankers and power elites need to keep the “globalized” world rolling in the direction that they wish and need. This includes such things as multi-trillion dollar “quantitative easings” to keep Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, CityCorp, Wachovia and JPMorgan Chase happy and “healthy”; financing clandestine and terror operations to overthrow the governments of Iran, Nicaragua, Argentina, Cuba, Chile, Syria, Libya, Vietnam and many others; waging decades-long wars against Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Africa and Latin America; unflinchingly supporting “little Israel’s” genocide in Palestine and its “democratic” 400-bomb strong nuclear program; and keeping Wall Street on permanent life-support.
The prospect of shifting from such a capitalistic system towards a more decentralized and [supposedly] bourgeoisie system is perhaps driving the increasing public acceptance of Bitcoins.
The prospect of shifting from such a capitalistic system towards a more decentralized and [supposedly] bourgeoisie system is perhaps driving the increasing public acceptance of Bitcoins. Growing awareness of these issues and rising compatibility with technology among the younger generations have also helped in developing trust when it comes to carrying out transactions online.
But, to what extent will the ‘right to privacy’ of an individual be ensured? In a virtual space where snooping and snatching occurs far too often, will Bitcoins work? If deregulation and decentralization are at the core of crypto-currencies, then will other such ventures be accepted [or expected]? Or, will the world see another monopoly in the form of Bitcoin just like the previous market imperatives of globalization led to a McWorld where MTV, Macintosh and McDonalds were the homogenized manifestations of democratic principles?
The malpractices of Governments and Intelligence agencies, when it comes to purporting acts of [t]error for political gains, are also getting exposed on an almost daily basis. Many developing and developed countries are under constant threat by extremist forces both from within and outside their borders. Financial transactions and transfers of money across international borders form a very vital part of these re-tribalizing forces and networks. How will the questions related to security be addressed? How will the transactions between ‘non-real’ virtual identities be identified? These are some of the questions that are still largely unclear about a crypto-currency like Bitcoin.
one of the major challenges that crypto-currencies currently face is the regulatory drama or policy decisions that might prevent financial institutions and business enterprises from transacting in digital currencies.
Although crypto-currencies are said to be free from the waxes and wanes of inflation, their volatility and structural setup are bound to create a market that will be highly similar to the stock market where the experienced, intelligent or lucky people end up making more profits than the others, by correctly predicting consumer behavior. And, the non-homogeneity in consumer behavior will always keep this volatility alive.
Apart from these reservations, one of the major challenges that crypto-currencies currently face is the regulatory drama or policy decisions that might prevent financial institutions and business enterprises from transacting in digital currencies.
The future of Bitcoins seems bright, but there are several unanswered questions that need to be addressed and challenges that need to be overcome before it can receive trans-national acceptance.
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