Chapters authored
Bitcoin and Ethics in a Technological Society
Bitcoin came into existence as a peer-to-peer payment system for use on online transactions. This achievement was the result of a shared vision about the future relationship between governments’ control and citizenry, and the collaborative work of the many who contributed to the development of the cryptographic field. This innovation and its underlying technology, the blockchain, have been at the root of a change of paradigm, as the joint use of blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) seed the next technological revolution. However, as it is often the case, these revolutionary inventions have also been met with skepticism in the financial sector and society at large. Using the case of Bitcoin and the blockchain, this paper analyzes the intersection between the philosophy and technology underlying these innovations, and the outlook of a sector of society who fears these developments while others try to profit. In this chapter, we first look at the history of Bitcoin together with that of those behind it. We then review the mixed reception it obtained after coming to the market. We assess the innovations’ properties and confront these with the needs of a society eager to obtain further clarity and enjoy more transparency in matters of relevance to their participation in democratic processes.
Part of the book: Advances in the Convergence of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence