In an interview with NFX’s Morgan Beller, Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder opined on Chinese tech, U.S. exceptionalism, and crypto.
He discussed how people often overestimate China, arguing that the United States that push to pursue Chinese technology companies makes them vulnerable to other actors. This conflict could create opportunities for cryptocurrencies to thrive in the future.
From tariffs and levies to the ban, the global tech industry is at the center of an escalating cold war between the US and China.
The Ethereum co-founder offered the following views on the US war against Chinese technology companies:
“It’s definitely true that a lot of the conflict, even if it’s a negative-sum for humanity overall, is good for crypto”.
We all see the new Cold War is heating up – the combatants are the US entrenched power and China rising power. Unlike the First Cold War between the US and the USSR, the Second Cold War will be more globally impactful.
It’ll be fought in cyberspace – a war of bits and bytes, of mass data collection and constant surveillance. In the last four years Trump administration consistently makes the moves, warning Chinese tech giants as the security threat, and the Chinese government also responded equally.
Buterin believes that the concentrated power of governments overthrew all attempts to claim the interests of the country.
The bans and tariffs can’t protect US citizens from security threats and job loss.
He insists that decentralization is a better way to do it. “And this is where crypto comes in, because decentralization is the one way that you can credibly convince people that you actually care about trying to protect people.” said Buterin.
He also emphasized: “The reason why this is true is because A and B both know that A and B are each other’s greatest threat, and so they’re just going to basically kill each other, and so C’s the most likely to emerge as the winner.”
He gave a classic logical example of three people in a fight, explained that in a contest where the first person (A) is more skilled than the second (B) who is more skilled than the third (C), the latter is bound to win. The first two parties will likely try to get rid of each other, leaving an easy path for the third party – in the meaning, cryptocurrency.
Regardless of the results we are now entering an unprecedented era of digital colonialism – an era where the levers of control are likely to gradually move away from governments. The strong surgence and strike of cryptocurrencies in the coming time is fully anticipated.
