Moneyness of ETH and Neurotransmitters
In this article, we review how the asset ETH and Neurotransmitters exhibit the property of Moneyness. This property of Moneyness is showcased in accordance with the conventional understanding of Money: what it is. In a later post, we will use a different model which examines what money does.
Moneyness of ETH
As a property emergent of trustless value exchange and smart contract execution, economies have grown on Ethereum where ETH is the token functioning as Money. ETH embodies the quality of Moneyness. I.e., it serves the three essential functions of money:
EIP-1559
Ethereum is a decentralized network governed by its users. As a result, the community is continuously upgrading the network through Ethereum Improvement Proposals – EIPs. EIP-1559 was one such important upgrade and it went into effect on August 5th, 2021. In addition to user experience enhancements, EIP-1559 implemented the fee burn: a portion of the total ETH paid in gas fees is burned and removed from circulation forever.
EIP-1559 increases ETH’s scarcity value and further enhances its Moneyness. Because it becomes harder to acquire ETH as it grows scarcer (thus reducing the likelihood of attack vectors like 51% attacks), the Ethereum network becomes more secure. EIP-1559 has been commeratively memed as Ultra-Sound Money.
BTC is Sound money due to its limited supply of 21M. ETH is Ultra-Sound money because its supply and annual issuance can theoretically become net negative. Ethereum’s monetary policy is Minimum Viable Issuance.
In summary, ETH can be conceptualized as a triple-point asset. H/t to Bankless for elucidating this.
Moneyness of Neurotransmitters
In the Nervous System, it turns out Neurotransmitters also exhibit a characteristic of Moneyness.
Neurotransmitters are released from the pre-synaptic neuron, and they travel across the synaptic cleft, where they bind to the receptors expressed on the post-synaptic neuron. What might they be exchanging or transacting?
Appears to be some kind of energy, or charge, based on the change in the neuron’s membrane potential. The resting membrane potential of most neurons is -70 mV (millivolts).
Unit of Account
This number goes up or down, varying with the combinations of NTs and receptors activated. So, a neuron uses NTs to account for unit changes in its membrane potential.
Some NT + receptor combinations excite the neuron (make number go more positive; depolarization), while others inhibit it (make the number go negative; hyperpolarization). The outcome is binary.
Medium of Exchange
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers, functioning as a medium of exchange for electrical energy. From a Cybernetics perspective, Neurotransmitters transmit information. This indeed is an exchange and not purely forward signaling because retrograde neurotransmitters (e.g., endocannabinoids), which are released from the post-synaptic neuron and bind to pre-synaptic targets, engage in retrograde signaling.
Store of Value
After exerting their actions on the post-synaptic receptors, NTs are returned to the pre-synaptic neuron through re-uptaketransporter proteins. Here, NTs are held inside of vesicles where they store value (electrical energy/charge).
Is electricity the currency of the Nervous System?
EIP-1559 in Nature
Reabsorption through reuptake transporters is not the only process contributing to clearance of neurotransmitters from the Synapse. In the nervous system, the EIP-1559 mechanism is analogous to Enzymatic Degradation. Target enzymes degrade neurotransmitters and remove them from the synaptic cleft. E.g., Acetylcholine is broken down by Acetylcholine Esterase.
What happens to the denatured neurotransmitters? The remains can be recycled to create more neurotransmitters, or diverted into one of the myriad biochemical pathways. E.g., Dopamine:
Whereas EIP-1559 in nature putatively resembles an effective taxation and redistribution scheme emergent within the nervous system, EIP-1559 on Ethereum eternally erases the burned ETH from existence.
There is a Dharma to Ethereum and the Nervous System. It is exemplified symbolically by the Ouroboros.
The Value (Capital) allocation scheme does not confirm with Capitalism nor Socialism. It might lean closer to Distributism, though more research is necessary to fully understand the picture. Nevertheless, this micro-neuro-economical arrangement scales effectively to cultivate an elegant and anti-fragile system design.
