The Blockchain Socialist

Hosted by The Blockchain Socialist

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Episodes

201

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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EN-US

About the show

A podcast by The Blockchain Socialist (@TBSocialist) giving a platform for those at the intersection of blockchain and Left politics. Subscribe to the Patreon to get access to bonus content and support my work: https://www.patreon.com/theblockchainsocialist

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60 recent

June 11, 20261 hr 3 min

Harnessing Collective Intelligence better than LLMs w/ Sean Geobey

I spoke to Sean Geobey, associate professor at the University of Waterloo and Director of Groupthink Labs, about collective intelligence, cooperative economics, and what decentralized technology could actually offer the solidarity economy.We dig into how collective intelligence works at scale, from participatory budgeting experiments in Kitchener to the structural barriers that make setting up a cooperative three times harder than incorporating a business. We also get into the limits of GDP as a measure of anything meaningful, why the left's taboo around finance is a form of unilateral disarmament, and how speculative finance has become the shortest-term thinking industry on the planet while performing the same planning function as the old Soviet Politburo. Sean also looks at Bread Cooperative (a worker cooperative I founded) and where the real bottlenecks are for Web3 to serve collective action rather than undermine it.If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

May 25, 20261 hr 2 min

The Intelligence Curse w/ Evan Miyazono

I spoke to Evan Miyazono, founder of Atlas Computing, about the neglected risks of advanced AI and what it would actually take to govern it.We dig into the threats he thinks aren't getting enough attention, from asymmetrically offensive cyber capabilities and economic disruption to what he calls the "intelligence curse," a dynamic where governments lose any incentive to invest in their populations once labor becomes synthetic. We also get into formal verification as a framework for AI governance, why consensus and agreement become scarcer as intelligence gets cheaper, and where blockchains might actually fit into that picture in ways that have nothing to do with libertarian fantasy.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

May 7, 20261 hr 3 min

Self-Repaying Loans and the Fight for Crypto's Soul w/ Scoopy Trooples

I spoke to Scoopy Trooples, the pseudonymous co-founder of Alchemix, about self-repaying loans, the wreckage of DeFi scams, and what ethical crypto finance could actually look like.We dig into how Alchemix works, allowing your debt pays itself off over time and what's new in V3. We also get into the broader rot in the space: meme coin pump-and-dumps, celebrity rug pulls, prediction market gambling, and how DeFi summer's promise curdled into financial nihilism. Scoopy is one of the rare crypto founders willing to say the quiet part loud, that most of what gets built in this space is zero-sum at best and predatory at worst, and has been trying to build something different since day one.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

April 23, 202659 min

Sovereignty for Sale w/ Atossa Abrahamian

I spoke to Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, an independent journalist and author of The Hidden Globe, about the world of offshore finance, special economic zones, and network states.We dig into her reporting on a proposed crypto enclave in St. Kitts and Nevis, the history and reality of these zones, and what happens when libertarian ideas about sovereignty and markets collide with real communities pushing back. The network state adjacent project is called Destiny and is being proposed by Olivier Janssens, a wealthy bitcoin tycoon, for the island of Nevis. Locals have felt deceived by its marketing and have even made diss tracks about it.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!Timestamps00:00 Highlight & Introduction01:06 Sponsor Break Nym VPN01:46 Meet the Guest03:21 Passports and Offshore Worlds05:56 Nevis Destiny Project Origins09:40 SEZ Law and Local Backlash10:39 The Destiny Pitch Video00:08 Dubai Model and DIFC Courts22:30 How SEZs Work Historically28:20 From Factories to Lifestyle Enclaves29:40 Bioshock and Body Mods30:40 Managed Zones Not Free Markets31:28 No Such Thing As Deregulation32:52 Libertarian Influencers And Roger Ver35:03 Why Not Just Use SEZs35:50 Network State Factions And Thiel38:54 Markets Logic Turns Colonial42:20 Nevis Pushback And Colonial Memory44:10 Passports Sovereignty And Mercenary States47:00 Remote Control Citizenship And Land48:54 Prospera Compared And Biohacking Drift53:59 Network School As Adult Summer Camp56:44 Closing Thoughts And Nevis Diss TrackIf you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

April 14, 202642 min

MEV Is Broken on Ethereum — Can Encrypted Mempools Fix It? w/ Luis Bezzenberger

I spoke to Luis Bezzenberger of Brainbot and core contributor to Shutter Network, about MEV and threshold encryption for encrypted mempools.Luis comes from a background in distributed systems and has spent years thinking about how cryptography can level the playing field between ordinary users and sophisticated actors who exploit the transparency of public mempools. We dig into how threshold encryption works, why encrypted mempools like what Shutter Network is building, could protect users from front-running without sacrificing decentralization, and what it actually takes to get something like this shipped at the protocol level. We also get into the broader architecture puzzle — encrypted mempools PBS, FOCIL, and why Luis thinks these three pieces together form the holy trinity for censorship resistance on Ethereum.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

April 2, 202659 min

Crypto and Stablecoins in Tanzania w/ Victor Muhagachi

I spoke to Victor Muhagachi, co-founder of NEDA Labs, building digital asset payment infrastructure in Tanzania and East Africa, about what it actually looks like to bring crypto to communities in this context.Victor grew up watching mobile money transform how people transact across Africa but also watching 15-20% of people's money disappear just in the act of digitizing it. We dig into NEDA Labs work on Tanzanian Shilling stablecoin rails and the experience of talking to regulators. We also get into the savings circle pilot they ran with the JUKUMU Hub, a local community space, and Solar Foundation whom we had recently in a Bread Cooperative community call.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showSupport the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

March 24, 202642 min

Why he left crypto for AI w/ Nader Dabit

I spoke to Nader Dabit, longtime crypto developer and educator who built at Aave, Lens, and Developer DAO, about what it felt like to be at the frontier of Web3 and why he eventually left.Nader spent years genuinely believing in decentralized social and censorship resistant platforms, and we dig into why those ideas haven't found their footing: the brutal difficulty of onboarding people, a culture that kept rewarding hype over substance, and watching the space forgive grifters over and over while builders burned out. We also get into the moment AI clicked and why late 2024 felt like a real turning point, what agentic coding does to the software engineering profession, and whether the crypto-AI intersection is real or just the latest way to raise money. And Nader shares some thoughts as a Palestinian American on why censorship resistance still matters to him even if the tools haven't delivered on it yet.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

March 4, 20261 hr 3 min

Collective action strategies in the age of AI w/ Nick Vincent from Data Leverage

I spoke to Nick Vincent, assistant professor of computing science at Simon Fraser University and author of the Data Leverage substack, about what it actually means that AI systems are built on the collective output of humanity's digital labor and what we can do about it.Nick has spent years researching how data functions as a bargaining tool, and we get into the nitty gritty of what that looks like in practice: data strikes, data poisoning, and redirecting your data to competitors as forms of collective action. We also discuss the explosion of agentic coding tools like Claude Code, what they mean for software engineers and entry-level workers, and why the very thing that makes LLMs so powerful — their dependence on collective human data — is also what makes them uniquely vulnerable to organized pressure from below.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

February 23, 202648 min

Delete Coinbase! Use this instead... w/ UnhappyBen (Peer.xyz)

I spoke to UnhappyBen, head of growth and marketing at Peer (formerly known as ZKP2P) which is a service that allows you to officially delete Coinbase and every other centralized exchange account you may have. Peer is protocol that allows people to do P2P trading of crypto assets and fiat through neobanks like Revolut, Venmo, Wise, etc. while providing a high degree of privacy using zero knowledge proofs.In case you didn't see it, I spoke about the solution in a recent video of mine where I explained how I have been helping people send funds to those in Gaza using it. We discuss how exactly it works, the political implications of what they've built and what's coming next.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.

February 15, 202654 min

Public or Perish: Decentralized Municipal Socialism w/ Boris Mamlyuk

I spoke to Boris Mamlyuk, co-founder of Clean App an AI-powered, crowdsourced environmental app designed for users to report waste and hazards in real-time, essentially a system for reporting civic feedback. I had him on to talk about the app which boasts over 1 million installs, his critique of the crypto libertarian project's capture by Wall Street interests, and how decentralized technologies can strengthen the civic sphere against both state surveillance and corporate data monopolies. We also discuss the potential for blockchain to enable municipal socialism and community coordination in the wake Mamdani's election in NYC.This episode is sponsored by NYM, the world's most private VPN. Unlike traditional VPNs, Nym uses a decentralized mixnet to scramble your internet data — hiding who you're talking to, when, and how often. You can switch between full mixnet mode for maximum anonymity, or a faster VPN mode for everyday use.Use the code blockchainsocialist when signing up and get an extra month!If you liked the podcast be sure to give it a review on your preferred podcast platform. If you find content like this important consider donating to my Patreon starting at just $3 per month. It takes quite a lot of my time and resources so any amount helps. Follow me on Twitter (@TBSocialist) or Mastodon (@theblockchainsocialist@social.coop) and join the r/CryptoLeftists subreddit. Support the showICYMI I've written a book about, no surprise, blockchains through a left political framework! The title is Blockchain Radicals: How Capitalism Ruined Crypto and How to Fix It and is being published through Repeater Books, the publishing house started by Mark Fisher who’s work influenced me a lot in my thinking. The book is officially published and you use this linktree to find where you can purchase the book based on your region / country.