Describing the attributes and characteristics has an important place in the ethnographic study of information infrastructure. Yet, decentralised information infrastructure does not have a clearly defined “ethnography”, by which to describe its unique attributes. This piece draws on...

The ultimate resilience is immortality. Blockchain communities have long-standing links with transhumanism through the cryptographers, cypherpunks, and extropians. Now, blockchain communities are actively embracing and funding life extension technologies. This embodiment of self-enhancing...

This working paper shares ideas presented in a research sprint exploring cooperative approaches to data ownership and governance led by Harvard University’s Berkman Klein and The New School, which we presented at the Platform Cooperative Consortium Conference, 2021.Our research project...

Blockchain-based “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs) communities risk perpetuating the 1990s Californian Ideology of techno-elitism in their imaginary of “autonomy” via technological determinism, free-market economics, and “engineering” approach to social and political...

The Cypherpunks were terrified of surveillance. They envisaged the combination of cryptography and computer technology fundamentally altering the nature of trust and reputation. Now, not just on chain transactions but every move of participants in blockchain communities is being tracked....