Diversity and Inclusion for Bitcoin

No field of technology has accomplished as much as Bitcoin when it comes to promoting diversity and inclusion. Check it out — In recent weeks, we’ve learned:

  • North Korea spun up hundreds of Bitcoin (mining?) nodes beginning in May.
  • Japanese digital services company GMO is investing $90M in a new Bitcoin mining facility.
  • Putin’s Internet ombudsman is raising $100M for a Bitcoin mining farm. It will reportedly take advantage of Russia’s excess power capacity at deeply discounted rates.

Bitcoin’s strength lies in its jurisdictional diversity. Every transaction is created equal, no matter by whom or where. China’s concentration of mining power has been one of the biggest threats to Bitcoin, but if these new developments play out, we could see multiple state-sponsored server farms jockeying for power.

The biggest benefit of diversity is that every new idea is confronted with lots of competing opinions, so no decision ever gets done. This preserves the blockchain’s doctrine of immutability and permissionless access. The most inclusive state of the network is one in which every node is divided in a Mexican standoff.

I know, I know: People like to signal virtue by bemoaning Bitcoin’s lack of gender diversity. That’s okay. Signaling serves an important evolutionary function, and I have much respect for anyone privileged enough to expend resources on such an activity.

Still, diversity-driven virtue signaling is horribly misguided. Gender diversity is of zero concern for anything but the elitest of elite Western institutions. Bitcoin and its blockchain brethren are global: No other technological advancement so effectively serves state-oppressed Venezuelans as well as Silicon Valley software engineers. That’s the power of inclusion and equality.