Sustainability in the Blockchain Trilemma: Time for a “Deficracy”
Giulia Napolitano · Transformations in banking, finance and regulation · 2024
This chapter intends to explore the concept of sustainability in the blockchain ecosystem, providing an overview of what already exists in the literature, as this new technology is rapidly gaining interest in different sectors and nowadays the global economy is moving towards sustainable development of financial markets and businesses. Considering the dominant uses of this technology for the green economy narrative, the purpose of this chapter is to expand knowledge on the topic of blockchain that could also allow effective ecological regeneration, facilitating degrowth objectives (Balaguer Rasillo, 2020) and socially equitable outcomes, through institutional reforms that disrupt debt-based economic systems, inspired by alternative currencies. In fact, after the COVID-19 lockdowns, there is a real need for a green, inclusive economy to build a stronger financial system, and blockchain could enable sustainable investments, mainly through collectively owned energy systems for a reduction in total energy use.