When you have a cryptocurrency and a technology that claims to be the solution to monopoly and giving power back to the poor and helping the unbanked world become more powerful..when in reality..that technology is itself a product of this capitalistic world. Isn't that a bit hypocritical ?
Shouldn't there be a technology that's actually built on top of other values? Does value come from profits and ownership. Where is it derived from ? What is the value of Bitcoin for example ? Is it in its exchange value ? Its production value ?
What I have been debating with many bitcoiners is that bitcoins value does not actually only come from how hard it is to mine (as some technologists want you to believe)..their argument is the value of bitcoin rises because..well..its harder to mine now. And there is only a few of them around. Thats not true.
Bitcoin's value does not only come from the labour (work) i.e Mining.
It also comes from the fact that bitcoin too, is a capital product. Subject to supply and demand and who owns a big chunk of it in the market.
If bitcoins value was determined by how hard it is to mine it (as most tech geeks claim)..that would actually mean that bitcoin is indeed a revolutionary product...and that its value is derived from the amount of socially necessary "labour" required to produce it (the labour theory of value) But thats not the case at all.
In my opinion, it is safe to say that the value of bitcoin, and all of the other technologies nowadays, is no different than any other product or comodity out there. It is subjective!
Yes the value of bitcoin is subjective. That means that it depends on the consumer. It is not dependant on the labour that goes into making it (mining it).
It depends on the consumers wants and needs based on its marginal utility (this is completely the opposit of Karl Marx's Labour theory).
Yesterday in one of the comments somewhere on facebook..I asked somebody..whats more valuable when you're in a desert ? Water or Bitcoin ? And whats more valuable if you're in a Casino ? Water or Bitcoin ? This is known in economics as the Diamond-Water Paradox..why are diamonds more valuable than water. When water is actually more necessary to life.
The subjective theory of value can answer this question. And you just have to replace diamonds with "Bitcoin" to understand bitcoins value. The theory explains that water, in total and in general, is more valuable than diamonds (bitcoin) because the first few units of water are necessary for survival.
The difference here is not in the necessity (demand)..because water is plentiful..but because of the availability..and because bitcoins (diamonds) are rare..every bitcoin, exceeds the value of every unit of water.
It is a paradox of value..what is available now, may not be available tomorrow. And what is precious now..may not be necessary for survival tomorrow.