Bitcoin in International Monetary Relations. New Innovation or Old Imperialism?

Table of Contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Bitcoin
  • 2.1 Hayek's Vision of Currency Competition and Bitcoin's Technology
  • 2.2 Evolution of Currency Space: from Deterritorialisation to Denationalisation
  • 2.3 Anticipated Prerequisites for the Evolution of Digital Alternative Currencies
• 3 Bitcoin - a New Technological Innovation
  • 3.1 Centralisation as the Failure of Historic Digital Alternative Currencies
  • 3.2 Bitcoin's Innovation: Cryptography, Open Source, and Decentralisation
    • 3.2.1 Security
    • 3.2.2 Anonymity
    • 3.2.3 Portability
    • 3.2.4 Reliability
    • 3.2.5 Trust
    • 3.2.6 Value
    • 3.2.7 Transactors
  • 3.3 Bitcoin as Largest Digital Currency and Growing Number of Transactors
  • 3.4 Disruptive Market Potential vs. Notions of Ponzi Scheme and Fraud
• 4 Bitcoin - an Old Imperialist Dynamic of Capital Expansion
  • 4.1 Capital's Need for Worldwide Expansion
  • 4.2 Bitcoin and Imperialist Capital Flows
  • 4.3 U.S. as a Hegemon for Capital Expansion Technology

Objectives and Key Themes

This thesis explores bitcoin, an emerging digital alternative currency and transaction technology, within the context of international monetary relations. It aims to demonstrate that the rise of digital alternative currencies like bitcoin was a predictable outcome based on existing theoretical frameworks in International Political Economy (IPE).

• The evolution of the currency space toward the emergence of digital alternative currencies was anticipated in the academic literature of IPE, particularly by scholars like Friedrich von Hayek and Benjamin Cohen.
• Centralization is identified as the primary reason for the failure of previous digital currencies, while bitcoin's decentralized technology is viewed as fulfilling long-anticipated but previously unachieved prerequisites.
• Bitcoin is presented as a new innovative transaction technology that offers economic utility for businesses and consumers by lowering transaction costs.
• The thesis challenges negative media portrayals of bitcoin as a Ponzi scheme or fraud, arguing that they stem from a misunderstanding of the necessary prerequisites for the emergence of successful digital currencies.
• Bitcoin's transaction technology is analyzed from a critical geography perspective, emphasizing its ability to enable capital flows in previously impenetrable spaces, potentially contributing to an ongoing imperialist expansion of capital through innovative means.

Chapter Summaries

The first chapter argues that the emergence of digital alternative currencies like bitcoin was anticipated within the academic literature of International Political Economy (IPE). The chapter explores Hayek's concept of competing private monies, demonstrates how IPE scholars have theorized the evolution of the international currency space as driven by currency competition, and outlines the specific prerequisites that have been identified for successful digital alternative currencies.

The second chapter examines bitcoin's innovative technological features. It highlights decentralization as a key factor in bitcoin's success, contrasting it with the centralized nature of previous failed digital currencies. The chapter then explores specific advantages of bitcoin, such as security, anonymity, portability, reliability, trust, value, and its increasing number of transactors.

The third chapter analyzes bitcoin from a critical geography perspective. It emphasizes how bitcoin enables capital flows in previously inaccessible areas, potentially contributing to a continuation of imperialist capital expansion through innovative technological means. The chapter also discusses the role of the United States as a hegemon in facilitating capital flows.

Keywords

This thesis explores the emergence and implications of bitcoin as a digital alternative currency within the context of international monetary relations. Key themes include the evolution of the currency space, digital currency innovation, decentralization, capital expansion, imperialism, and the role of the United States as a hegemon. The work draws upon concepts from International Political Economy (IPE), specifically the ideas of Friedrich von Hayek and Benjamin Cohen on currency competition.