Platform Capitalism and Bitcoin

Platform Capitalism
• digital economy: (1) most dynamic sector, (2) systematically important, (3) presented as an ideal
• what does it mean to live in a knowledge economy? (22)
• how does data [“datafication”] come to serve key capitalist functions? (24)
• Characteristics of platforms:
– (1) “the basic infrastructure to mediate between different groups.” (25)
– (2) reliant on “network effects”
– (3) use “cross-subsidisation”
– (4) appear an empty space, actually embody a politics
• Platforms are “a new type of firm,” an “extractive apparatus for data” (27)
– (1) Advertising platforms (Google, facebook)
– (2) Cloud platforms (AWS, Salesforce)
– (3) Industrial platforms (GE, Siemens)
– (4) Product platforms (Rolls Royce, Spotify)
– (5) Lean platforms (Uber, Airbnb)
• So, what are the specific factors leading to the rise of platform capitalism? Which platforms will be successful in the future and which less so?

Politics of Bitcoin
• five right-wing talking points about central banking (2)
• blockchain as a platform?
• cyberlibertarianism: “governments should not regulate the internet,” “freedom will emerge inherently from the increasing development of digital technology.”
• however, cyberlibertarianism incorporates right-wing worldview even when seeminghly manifesting liberal commitments
• “freedom” and “government” redefined (4)
• Big tech’s similarity to old extraction industries •••