Where does Big Government stand in Blockchain?
The ever-increasing worry about how governments can get involved with your decentralized activity.
Why the fear?
Well, the fear is understandable. These decentralized spaces are built for the sole purpose of not having a single authority. However, these decentralized communities are not without authority, in fact, most of them are run by a plutocracy. This form of government is ruled by the wealthiest in the community, and we are now starting to see the potential dangers of this.
So why are these plutocracies so common?
It’s because token holders in the blockchain are verifiable; these are the people who are most active and most willing to pay to be a part of the system. One of the largest problems about blockchain activity is the act of user verification, thus voting power is exclusive to members who are holding the most amount of tokens.
This makes sense for certain systems in place, such as deciding on new developments on Ethereum. Ethereum is arguably the most popular decentralized network, because of its massive user base and a massive number of decentralized applications (dApps). The users who are most invested in the Ethereum ecosystem are the ones who are able to make the biggest decisions for the platform, and this makes sense.
What’s the danger?
Plutocracies start to become dangerous when there are systems that require more equal representation. For example: why do our big governments today not act as plutocracies? It’s to protect the non-wealthy majority. There are dApps right now that have a majority of users who are not high token holders, and for them to be set aside as “non-voters” is an unfair act of judgment.
How can we be equally represented on a decentralized system? There are companies and communities trying to solve this today. Verification becomes the biggest issue, and for blockchains to do this while remaining completely decentralized, verification becomes an extremely difficult task.
Decentralized Representation
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are the most common forms of decentralized representative entities, but they almost exclusively rely on forming a plutocracy. An example of this type of platform is Aragon. I highly recommend you visit their site if you want to explore more of what a DAO is.
So, where can we turn if we want something else than a plutocracy? There aren’t any popular options around yet and you could probably make a fortune if you create one. New forms of decentralized representation are in high demand right now, and we’re currently in a supply void.
The Entrance of Big Government
Any physical government entity would love to get in on the blockchain ecosystem, but they’re limited by having to write legislation for new technologies. They’re still handling issues with Web 2.0, how can we expect them to handle Web 3.0 as well?
Blockchain commerce is booming, and where there’s commerce, the taxman is close behind. This might be the reason why the government might accelerate their entrance, leading to painful confusion in the decentralized space.
Many will be confused by government legislation on a blockchain because you don’t need to follow them. Governments can try their hardest to enforce their laws on NFT commerce, but the sole purpose of blockchain technology is to secure your data so that no one can access it, not even the government.
We want the government to get involved, but how?
The truth is we want some sort of regulation on our blockchain activity because it's starting to get dangerous out there. NFT trading is so volatile and so scary, that the market will eventually struggle to maintain its traction if left unchecked. An artist doesn’t want their income to be a gamble.
The NFT market is the wild west, because it’s functioning under the rule of a plutocracy, and they have nothing to gain from enacting strong, sensible regulation. But what’s great about this problem, is that blockchain gives you the freedom of choosing what solutions you’re willing to try.
New regulatory entities will have to compete to offer as much freedom as possible while providing adequate protection to the members. All of this activity would only be opted into and never enforced.
A Bright Future
This wave of blockchain activity is only the beginning. So many assets and methods of commerce will be moved to a decentralized space, giving power to the users to choose whatever paths they want. True competition will take place, leading to the best, most successful representation humankind has ever seen.
Every participant on a blockchain will choose what representation entity they would like to serve under and can switch to other better ones at a whim.
About Me
I’m a twenty-year-old web developer still in college. Check me out at my website where you can find some software projects that I’m working on.
Quae
Quae is on a mission to give people the power to vote every day. Amplify your voice and take action in your community.
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