We are at a critical watershed in the history of cryptocurrency.

Author: hitesh.eth

Translation: Deep Tide TechFlow

I will not confirm or challenge your views through charts, historical structural comparisons, or popular theories—so if you are merely seeking affirmation or expecting to see information that aligns with your expectations, you may be disappointed. Because what I am about to discuss requires you to focus on every detail I share.

Two Paths Forward

Currently, the cryptocurrency market is at a critical crossroads, facing two distinct paths forward—each with its unique advantages and disadvantages.

The first path leads to more freedom and adventure, while the second path signifies stronger control and constraints.

The Essence of Cryptocurrency: The Pursuit of Anarchy

Cryptographic technology is not a new concept—it has been brewing for fifty or sixty years. Thousands of cryptographers have laid the groundwork for today's technological developments. Their goal is to build a true "cryptographic anarchy."

This is a world that does not require legal identity, a society where everyone can be anonymous, an ecosystem completely free from government control. In this ecosystem, everything—governance, currency, communication, interaction, and collaboration—is achieved through decentralized means via cryptographic technology.

In such a world, people can freely create open markets, engage in unconditional trading, evade taxes, and take control of their wealth and lives.

However, our lives have long been controlled by corrupt governments and banks. Governments create a false sense of security, making us unaware that we have been trapped in this economic trap for centuries.

Bitcoin: The Call to Awakening

We need an awakening, and Bitcoin is the call to that awakening.

Bitcoin points the way to building a cryptographic anarchy. It provides a completely new alternative to the traditional financial system, allowing individuals to fully control their wealth without relying on banks or governments. Bitcoin has achieved a truly decentralized, censorship-resistant, and transparent monetary system for the first time. “The term anarchy is controversial for many, often conjuring images of complete chaos. However, its true meaning is not so. Anarchy simply refers to a system without rulers or central authority, where all cooperation and coordination are based entirely on voluntary actions among individuals within the system. Etymologically, the Greek word anarhkia literally means 'without rulers,' where an means 'without' and arkhia means 'ruler.'

This concept is the core foundation that allows Bitcoin to function as a distributed network and protocol. In the Bitcoin network, no one has absolute control. If there were a centralized controller, Bitcoin would no longer be a distributed system composed of autonomous individuals who interact based on voluntary principles.

Some people tend to view Bitcoin as an objective truth akin to physical laws, believing it can serve as a reference framework for human behavior. However, this view is incorrect. It actually confuses the differences between objectivity, intersubjectivity, and subjectivity.

Objective truth refers to a fact that exists regardless of whether people believe it. For example, the law of gravity states that an object with sufficient mass will exert a gravitational influence on other objects around it. Even if all of humanity—every man, woman, and child—were convinced that gravity does not exist, it would not change the fact that gravity continues to act upon them.”

Image Source: BitcoinMagazine

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper. This was not only a technological revolution but also a transformation of thought. It questioned the centralized control of currency and revealed the inherent flaws of the fiat currency system manipulated by governments and financial elites. This marked the first step for human civilization to break free from long-term economic oppression.

The emergence of Ethereum further propelled the development of blockchain technology. It built a comprehensive development infrastructure that allows developers to explore various applications of blockchain, thus igniting the first wave of cryptographic anarchy.

Tokenizing Everything

To achieve cryptographic anarchy, we need a robust infrastructure that enables people to tokenize various things—whether concepts described in words or content presented in images—assigning new value to them through tokenization and establishing liquidity markets around these items.

“Computer technology is moving towards a new era, empowering individuals and groups to communicate and interact completely anonymously. Two people can exchange information, conduct business, and sign electronic contracts without knowing each other's real names or legal identities. Through widely rerouted encrypted data packets and nearly tamper-proof encrypted protocols, interactions on the network will become untraceable. In such an environment, reputation will become the most important asset, its significance even surpassing today's credit ratings. The development of these technologies will fundamentally change the way government regulation operates, affecting the ability to tax and control the economy, while also disrupting traditional methods of information confidentiality and even reshaping the definitions of trust and reputation.

This impending revolution—undoubtedly a dual revolution of society and economy—has had its theoretical foundations established for over a decade. Its core technologies include public key cryptography, Zero-Knowledge Interactive Proof Systems, and various software protocols for interaction, authentication, and verification. In the past, this research was primarily concentrated in academic conferences in Europe and the United States and was closely monitored by the National Security Agency. However, only recently have the speeds of computer networks and personal computers become fast enough to make these theories a reality. In the next decade, further technological advancements will make these concepts economically viable and nearly unstoppable. High-speed networks, ISDN, tamper-proof devices, smart cards, satellites, Ku-band transmitters, multi-core high-performance personal computers, and developing cryptographic chips will be key drivers of this transformation.

Of course, states will attempt to prevent the spread of this technology through various means, citing national security, the potential misuse of technology by drug dealers and tax evaders, and concerns over the collapse of social order. These concerns have some validity: cryptographic anarchy could lead to state secrets being freely traded and could foster markets for illegal and stolen goods. Even anonymous computerized markets could see disturbing transactions such as assassinations and extortion. Various criminal organizations and foreign powers may also become major users of the “CryptoNet.” However, these resistances will not stop the spread of cryptographic anarchy.

Just as the invention of the printing press weakened the dominance of medieval guilds and social power structures, cryptographic technology will fundamentally change the way businesses and governments intervene in economic transactions. Combined with emerging information markets, cryptographic anarchy will create a free trading market for anything that can be expressed in words and images. Just as seemingly simple inventions—like barbed wire—allowed vast pastures and farmlands to be fenced off, fundamentally altering the concepts of land and property rights in the western frontier, discoveries from a niche branch of mathematics will also become tools to cut through the “barbed wire” of intellectual property.

You have nothing to lose but the barbed wire fence that binds you!”

Source: "Cryptographic Anarchist Manifesto"

In 1988, legendary cypherpunk Timothy C. May envisioned a future world filled with freedom and privacy in his "Cryptographic Anarchist Manifesto." He imagined a society where cryptographic technology grants humans privacy rights, autonomy, and freedom, transcending government control and centralized authority. In his vision, encrypted communication, anonymous transactions, and decentralized systems would render traditional oppressive institutions obsolete. His manifesto is not only a technical blueprint but also an ideological awakening, laying the ideological foundation for Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency movement. This manifesto became a call to developers and thinkers, encouraging them to view cryptography as the ultimate tool for human liberation.

Bonding Curve: The Key to Unlocking New Markets

If you temporarily set aside the price fluctuations in the market and focus solely on the underlying development trends, you will find that a key liquidity initiation tool was unlocked last year—that is the Bonding Curve.

The Bonding Curve is a mathematical model that can create thousands of different liquidity markets around anything that can be described in words. For image-based assets, we have already witnessed the explosion of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) in the last crypto market cycle. Today, this emerging experiment is gradually guiding us to build more liquidity markets to meet the demands of various fields.

Creating Markets for Memes

On the surface, creating liquidity markets for things that may seem meaningless appears absurd, but in reality, the core idea is Memes. We are creating individual markets because we believe there will always be someone willing to speculate around a certain Meme or concept. Thus, we provide them with an opportunity to participate through on-chain transactions and profit from it.

When people engage in speculation, they often develop beliefs about the things they invest in based on certain theories or data. Therefore, essentially, we are building liquidity markets for various tokenized beliefs. These markets not only satisfy the needs of speculators but also promote the diverse development of the entire crypto ecosystem.

The Wild West of Cryptographic Anarchy

In cryptographic anarchy, people can trade various things, including opinions, trends, stories, articles, songs, meme culture, research papers, reputations, gossip, reviews, recipes, and even many things we have yet to imagine… This is a state of great freedom and openness.

All of this was foreseen in Timothy C. May's "Cryptographic Anarchist Manifesto." We were meant to reach such a stage one day, and now, with advancements in technology and infrastructure, we are able to support various novel liquidity markets. However, the main issue currently is that most of these markets are being controlled by a few powerful participants who are trying to gain more profits through centralized means.

To achieve fair incentive distribution in these liquidity markets, an important solution is to build a reputation layer. This system allows market participants to verify the creator's reputation before transactions, while creators can also verify the user's reputation before allowing them into the market. https://x.com/eli5_defi/status/1830538370046673067

Now, we have technologies like ZkTLS (a zero-knowledge transport layer security protocol) and infrastructure like @nillionnetwork. These tools provide us with the possibility to build a reputation system, thereby achieving fairer incentive distribution at the application level. As these technologies mature, we will ultimately solve the reputation problem in cryptographic anarchy.

The Future: Two Clear Paths

The future of the crypto world will present two distinctly different development paths, and you can switch between these two paths based on your needs and preferences.

The first path is to participate in an ever-evolving cryptographic anarchy. Here, new markets emerge continuously, attention shifts rapidly, and wealth fluctuates in speculative cycles. Those who can quickly adapt to changes and take action will have the advantage in this environment.

The second path leads to a regulated and controlled crypto economy. In this space, stability, compliance, and structured investment opportunities become core. This path is more suitable for traditional financial institutions and large institutional investors who prefer to operate in a more predictable but also more restricted environment.

We are at a critical watershed in the history of cryptocurrency. As the U.S. officially rolls out crypto regulations, the boundaries between these two paths will become clearer.

Regulated markets will focus on Web3 businesses that can generate actual revenue and projects with ample cash flow, which will also mark the starting point of the first bull market cycle under authoritative regulation.

Meanwhile, in cryptographic anarchy, changes in fringe markets will continue to advance at an astonishing pace. If you face 100 markets, where 99 may experience declines, the remaining one could absorb liquidity from other markets and rise rapidly. In this environment, attention will become particularly valuable, and those who can keenly perceive trends and respond flexibly to changes will still hold the advantage in this competition.

In some corner of cryptographic anarchy, a bull market is always quietly brewing. Whether you can discover it and seize the opportunity depends entirely on your vision and initiative.

Cheer up! You have nothing to lose but the obstacles that bind you from moving forward.

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