The Metaist Crisis of Cypherpunks

The article argues that the 1990s cypherpunks' "Meta Solution" strategy failed because it could not compete with the government-corporate bureaucratic system. It describes metaism as a form of technological determinism, in which expert groups release neutral, trustless technology that spreads through network effects and reshapes society's political structure. The author contends that the bureaucratic system co-opted or neutralized cypherpunk technology once it recognized the threat, and that the failure was a competitive one rather than a story of evil suppressing justice.