Bitcoin: Beyond Sousveillance

Twitter has a 280 character limit. On Steemit, I use a 280 word limit: quick reads on a single, thought provoking topic related to cryptocurrency, blockchain or cross-border finance.

Bitcoin: Beyond Sousveillance

Surveillance: watching from above
Sousveillance: watching from below

Bitcoin believers speak to the merits of sousveillance. As Andreas Antonopoulos notes in his brilliant collection of talks, The Internet of Money:

“But what do you think happens when 7 ½ billion of us stare back?...We have a great advantage because the natural balance of the system is one in which individuals can have privacy but the powerful cannot have secrecy anymore. Bitcoin is one of the first steps in that.”

I wish to take it a step further.

Sansveillance: without watching

Andreas is correct in that we must watch leaders and hold them accountable. In some – but too few - countries, individuals can hold leaders accountable in a multitude of ways. Accountability led by the governed is critical, but so is privacy. Bitcoin enables sansveillance.

Privacy of transactions
Banking the under- and unbanked
Enabling equality: indifference between a hut in South Sudan or a penthouse in Mayfair
Access to all: no arbitrary wealth requirements
No permission needed from a central authority, platform or approver
Freedom to choose which network to use

Unfortunately, much of the world’s population lives under regimes in which sousveillance is unrealistic without threat of harm. I suggest that we emphasize sansveillance as we work to expand the bitcoin network.

Let me know what you think. Reply here or find me on twitter at @officialgruber.