The word crypto has connotations such as decentralization, transparency, anonymity and the like. These are just some of the terms that an individual would usually never associate with any political or government organization.
However, some crypto experts argue that a technology that aims to disrupt the financial mechanism established by large central banks directly is anything but apolitical.
Political Outlook of Crypto Adopters
When bitcoin shot into prominence during December 2017, there was a considerable buzz surrounding the crypto token. Industries worldwide were rampant with talks how the cryptocurrency can change the game of transactions as we know it. Bitcoin was and is still seen as a means to escape the shackles of centuries-old fiat based economy established by government bodies. Benefits of the digital currency are pretty well known in the crypto community; hence it becomes imperative to gauge the political leaning of such a society.
The findings were surprising. Per a survey reported on TheHill, more than 1,200 individuals in the crypto community were asked about their political leanings. One would expect a community behind a free idea such as cryptocurrency to show more of liberal enthusiasm, but the results were something else.
Breaking down the responses, it was found out that 8 percent of the subjects were anarcho-capitalists, 24 percent libertarians, 9 percent centrists, 21 percent conservatives, 9 percent socialists, 3 percent nihilists and 27 percent liberals. Although liberals formed the majority, grouping together anarcho-capitalists and libertarians put them past liberals by 5 percent.
What do the Ideologies Entail?
It is worth stressing that the surveyed groups were fragmented into distinct groups to draw a line between the slightest of differences between any two ideologies of the crypto engulfed mass. Grouping together libertarians and anarcho-capitalists might require us to blur this line a little, as both, the groups advocate limited interference by government to some extent.
When viewed from the lens of left vs. right, it was observed that majority (52 percent) of the crypto enthusiasts are right-wing, while 45 percent identify themselves as being leftists.
Indeed, the crypto community shows a wide variety of political ideologies.
Another interesting fact that came about as a result of a survey is that some ideologies are clustered around a particular crypto token. For example, Ethereum community has the highest percentage of left centric participants (55 percent), while dash contains the most top right-wing participants (78 percent). Bitcoin and XRP resemble the center with a healthy mix of individuals from both the extremes of the political spectrum.
