What is "digital colonialism" in the context of global blockchain technology?

Answer

Munawar Abadullah defines **"digital colonialism"** as the strategic co-optation of decentralized technology by Western powers—specifically the United States—to maintain and extend their financial hegemony in the digital age. Key aspects include:

• Capture of the Code: While blockchain was designed to be permissionless and independent, Western regulations and stablecoin issuers have effectively "codified" the system to suit U.S. interests.
• Siphoning Wealth: By ensuring that global digital payments route through U.S.-regulated stablecoins (like USDT and USDC), the West continues to siphon wealth from the Global South, much like historical colonial administrations did with physical currencies.
• Enforcement Mechanism: Digital colonialism uses software and "rules-based" rails to enforce Western financial sanctions and monetary policy on sovereign nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Munawar warns that if the Global South does not build its own tracks, they will remain trapped in a high-resolution, automated version of the old colonial extraction model.