There are few things more emotional, contentious and misunderstood than the concept of freedom. It means different things to different people and spans a wide ideological spectrum from fundamental human right to hard-won privilege, with some darker tones of “threat” adding nuance to the discourse.
Bitcoin, fiercely embraced by libertarians, has been hailed as the key to financial freedom. Decentralized innovation on borderless computing platforms has given rise to new paradigms of thought and creativity, and the global collaboration has both lowered financial boundaries and supported individual opportunity.
We all know that, in order to live peacefully with each other, some freedoms need to be curtailed. The progress of civilization has revolved around finding the balance between too little and too much, with the pendulum swinging from one extreme to the other and knocking things over in the process.
Nowhere is this more public than in the evolution of capital markets. The “free market” that we hold up as the ideal of capitalism is anything but. Excesses that damage vested interests are stamped out with more rules and regulations, and protection increasingly trumps opportunity.
