Paradoxically, as a solution to the dysfunctional banking systems, cryptos intensify what about these derelict systems is most speculative—derivatives.
Except that where traditional markets build derivatives on top of something ultimately real (be even millions of such bets correlated to a mere fraction of an asset: dollar, gold), cryptos instead begin with nothing. That is, their very essence is derivative in nature.
This is amazing. And it's totally unsurprising that the solution is the radicalization of speculation. Indeed, the flaw of traditional derivatives is not their abstractness (their power to craft too much from too little), but rather their over-dependence on referentiality. Because where derivatives refer to an underlying object on the basis of which they hyper-inflate assumptions, cryptos being derivatives from the get go (they are pure calculations; infinite imitations of themselves; memes) do not refer because they are self-referential—their break with referentiality won them self-containment.
molly warhol
