On the Philosophy of Bitcoin/Blockchain Technology: Is it a Chaotic, Complex System?

The Philosophy of Blockchain Technology is concerned, among other things, with its ontology, how might it be characterised, how is it being created, implemented, and adopted, how does it operate in the world, and how does it evolve over time. Here, we concentrate on whether Bitcoin/blockchain can be considered a complex system and, if so, whether a chaotic one. Beyond mere academic curiosity, a positive response would raise concerns about the likelihood of Bitcoin/blockchain entering a 2010-FlashCrash-type of chaotic regime, with catastrophic consequences for financial systems based on it. This paper starts by enhancing the relevant details of Bitcoin/blockchain ecosystem formed by the blockchain itself, bitcoin end-users (payers and payees), capital gain seekers, miners, full nodes maintainers, and developers, and their interactions. Secondly, the Information Theory of Complex Systems is briefly discussed for later use. Finally, blockchain is investigated with the help of Crutchfield‟s Statistical Complexity measure. The low non-null statistical complexity value obtained suggests that blockchain may be considered algorithmically complicated, but hardly a complex system and unlikely to enter a chaotic regime.