Let Them Eat Crypto

An essential resource. Howson strikes not just at cryptocurrency, but the frauds who promote blockchain technology as a solution to any social problem David Gerard, author ofAttack of the 50 Foot BlockchainA merciless takedown of attempts to apply blockchain to the worlds biggest problems ... If you are thinking of using blockchain for good, read this first Professor Villi Lehdonvirta, University of OxfordThe subject of immense hope, hype and confusion, crypto has amassed countless headlines in recent years. With cryptocurrencies, NFTs and metaverse markets crashing, the underlying blockchain technology is still promised to solve global development challenges, and revolutionise every industry. But is the technology really a silver bullet?Peter Howson cuts through the jargon and bluster to tell an alarming story of how right-wing libertarian crypto entrepreneurs often aided by charities, politicians and philanthropists seek out and exploit conditions of poverty, oppression, corruption and conflict. Their goal? A new front of crypto-colonial extractivism.Let Them Eat Cryptoreveals the alarming truth: far from banking the unbanked, saving the gorillas, or freeing people from oppressive governments, blockchain offers only false solutions, surveillance and hi-tech snake oil.Peter Howson is a technology writer, researcher and Assistant Professor in International Development at Northumbria University. His work has appeared inReuters,The Independent,The Conversation,Novara,JacobinandCoindesk. He investigates the green-washing, aid-washing and crypto-shenanigans that go on in Silicon Valley, as well as the lesser-known tech-hubs of the Global South.