Trustless libertarians ? Attitudes about trust, politics, science and the environment in the blockchain community

Blockchain technology emerged in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis to provide a decentralized alternative to financial institutions. Members of the blockchain community, including the pseudonymous inventor of the technology Satoshi Nokamoto, have often expressed low levels of trust toward traditional institutions such as central banks. In contrast, they argue that blockchain technology applications such as cryptocurrencies or decentralized autonomous organisations do not require the intervention of a third party and are therefore more trustworthy while also allowing for more freedom. In this context, members of the blockchain community are often described as trustless and libertarian. In this study, we tested whether members of the blockchain community indeed are different from the general population in terms of their attitudes toward trust, politics, science and the environment. We found that the blockchain community is indeed less trusting of people and institutions, favors more private poverty, and is less pro-environmental than the general population. Given that trust in institutions has been decreasing in recent years, decentralized systems powered by blockchain technology may become appealing to a growing number of people around the world.