Cryptocurrency Can Help Left-Wing Causes, Says Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson


Traditional left-wing concerns about transparency and accountability can benefit from cryptocurrency, according to Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, as discussions about crypto regulation continue to hot up in Washington DC.

Speaking to Harvard International Review, Hoskinson considered a lack of understanding about the technology behind cryptocurrency as a reason for apprehension and desire to regulate.

Educating policymakers about cryptocurrency will be vital to legislating, he said. “You have to say, this is not a debate of [a] no regulation libertarian crypto-anarchist utopia, or heavy regulation neo-communism. This is a debate of what this protocol needs to do to ensure that it’s fair for everyone and that consumer protections are put in.”

Blockchain Benefits

“The left historically has been somewhat anti-war and anti-military industrial complex,” he said. “Well, wouldn’t it be nice to have perfect accounting and accountability for how our tax dollars have been spent in that sector in that industry?”

“Blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, is actually the perfect mechanism of doing that,” he stated, referencing the public nature of a blockchain ledger.

If implemented correctly, this could lead to transparency, egalitarianism, fairness, and equal access, Hoskinson said.

The Cardano founder also said these networks could form part of a solution for other concerns, such as countering global warming. Cryptocurrency, specifically those that use proof-of-work mining to validate transactions, however, has frequently come under fire for the amount of energy used in this process.

Hoskinson also considered the clashes between cryptocurrency and more traditional forms of finance controlled by the government. “It is difficult to accept that maybe somebody can be successfully their own bank. It is difficult to accept that sometimes trusting people with their own money means they're going to make poor financial decisions.”

“It’s a political debate and you know the real solutions are probably somewhere in the middle.”

Talk of cryptocurrency regulation has ramped up across the globe in the past six months. China has further cracked down on all cryptocurrency transactions, while the Senate Infrastructure Bill will implement information reporting requirements for ‘brokers’.

When asked about China’s crackdown, Hoskinson said: “Authoritarian, totalitarian regimes that hate freedom, hate cryptocurrencies. It's just that simple. These technologies are fundamentally incompatible with each other.”

Hoskinson has previously criticised the Senate over the Infrastructure Bill, even calling for a cryptocurrency rally in Washington.

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