What is the Krypto Economy?
The term is derived from the idea of cryptography, the practice and technique of hiding digital information to allow a secure exchange. With this book, we extend the meaning, exploring the empowering and destructive forces of a hidden economy, which underlies the reality of the digital era. With Kryptonite— the fictional mineral that both nearly annihilates Superman and gives him incredible powers— acting as a basic narrative, we illustrate the digital age’s radiating danger and also its undeniable force for good.
Background Story
Over the past few years, we’ve begun to question the liberating and egalitarian vision of a digital era. With the revelations of Edward Snowden in 2013, it became clear that the Information Age would not provide us with a warm and fuzzy future, per se. Instead, we woke up in a surveillance and advertising apparatus. Too quickly, discourse ebbed away, along with the attention span of the public media, with little consequence.
With this in mind, Andrea Bauer and Boris Moshkovits began a think tank and discourse salon called D.DAY to continue a critical, but constructive discourse to reflect on the future of our tech world; one that considered the current, rapidly evolving digital climate.
The first salon took place in 2014 at Soho House Berlin. Its aim was to reflect on the realities and effects of the digital age, opting for the panel discussion format.
