Background & Current State:
Bitcoin was born during the 2008 financial crisis, designed to address trust issues in the centralized financial system. Seventeen years later, global debt crises have intensified (U.S. national debt stands at $38 trillion, with annual interest payments of $1.2 trillion), exposing the fragility of the traditional financial system.

Core Value:

• Decentralization & Inflation Resistance: With a fixed supply of 21 million coins, Bitcoin cannot be over-issued, offering an alternative to counter currency devaluation.

• Maturity & Validation: After 17 years of development, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has reached $2.4 trillion, establishing it as a mainstream asset (e.g., BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF manages $89 billion). It has demonstrated resilience through multiple crises, such as the 2020 pandemic crash.

Practical Significance:

• Institutional Adoption: Bitcoin has expanded from early libertarians to Wall Street institutions (e.g., Wisconsin Pension Fund, Harvard Endowment allocating to Bitcoin ETFs), driving compliance and large-scale adoption.

• Countering Entropy: Amid escalating "chaos" from debt expansion, geopolitical conflicts, and AI disruptions, Bitcoin serves as an "anchor of order" for value storage through its supply rigidity, transparent ledger, and decentralized network.

Future Role:
As a trustless foundational infrastructure independent of sovereign credit, Bitcoin continues to offer wealth protection and financial autonomy in the face of systemic risks like monetary oversupply and information pollution.

Introduction: Two Eras, One Question
On October 31, 2008, as the global financial system teetered in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis, a cryptographer named Satoshi Nakamoto sent a whitepaper to a niche cryptography mailing list. The title was succinct: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

Seventeen years later, on November 1, 2025, as we revisit this document, the calendar has changed, but the world looks strikingly similar.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the $2.7 trillion bank bailouts have been replaced by $38 trillion in U.S. national debt and $1.2 trillion in annual interest payments. The prophecy embedded by Satoshi in the genesis block—"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"—has not become obsolete; instead, it feels more piercing in 2025.

Seventeen years ago, Bitcoin emerged from skepticism toward the centralized financial system. Today, that skepticism has not been resolved but has grown more urgent.

The question is: In the seemingly "under-control" landscape of 2025, with Wall Street embracing Bitcoin, governments discussing strategic reserves, and prices hitting new highs, why do we still need Bitcoin?

2008 vs. 2025: A Tale of Two Crises
2008: The Collapse of the Old World
In the early hours of September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank, declared bankruptcy—the largest in U.S. history, with $613 billion in total liabilities.

Let’s understand the crisis through a simple story:

Imagine you are a restaurant waiter with an unstable income, earning $30,000 a year. Under traditional standards, you wouldn’t qualify for a loan. But in the early 2000s, banks approached you, saying, "No problem! We can lend you $500,000 to buy a house. For the first two years, you’ll pay minimal interest. Housing prices will rise, and you can resell for a profit!"

Bank employees cared about their KPIs, upper management cared about selling loans to financial institutions, and you cared about owning a home. In this system, no one was at fault—as long as housing prices kept rising, the game could continue indefinitely.

This was the "subprime mortgage"—high-risk loans to borrowers with poor credit and repayment capacity. From 2000 to 2007, such loans surged in the U.S., from about $130 billion to $600 billion.

After issuing these loans, banks didn’t hold onto them (due to high risk) but performed a "magic trick":

• Bundled thousands of loans together

• Sliced them into tiers of "bonds" (called MBS—Mortgage-Backed Securities)

• Repackaged these into more complex products (CDOs—Collateralized Debt Obligations)

• Had rating agencies assign these products "AAA" ratings (the safest grade, equivalent to U.S. Treasuries)

It was like mixing rotten apples with good ones, repackaging them, and labeling them "premium fruit."

Lehman Brothers heavily invested in these "AAA-rated" securitized products, using borrowed money (leverage). By 2007, Lehman’s leverage ratio reached 31:1—meaning for every $1 of its own capital, it managed $31 in assets.

Then, in 2006, U.S. housing prices began to fall. Subprime borrowers found themselves trapped—falling prices shrank home equity, rising interest rates increased repayment burdens, and selling became impossible. Many defaulted.

As the chain reaction spread, subprime mortgage default rates soared: about 13% in 2006, surpassing 25% by 2008.

This meant those "AAA-rated" securities were fraught with risk. Overnight, so-called quality assets turned "toxic." Lehman Brothers’ billions in such assets became worthless.

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy: $613 billion in liabilities, 25,000 employees jobless.

After Lehman’s collapse, the financial system plunged into unprecedented panic. Banks stopped trusting each other (no one knew who held toxic assets), interbank lending froze, credit markets seized, businesses couldn’t secure loans, and stock markets plummeted—the Dow Jones fell about 2,000 points in a week, a 14% drop. Unemployment rose from 5% to over 10% by October 2009.

Facing systemic collapse, the U.S. government intervened:

• The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) allocated $700 billion to buy toxic assets from banks.

• The Federal Reserve launched quantitative easing (QE), printing money to buy bonds, expanding its balance sheet from $800 billion in 2008 to $4.5 trillion by 2014.

Yet, who bore the cost of the bailout? Taxpayer money rescued banks, Fed printing devalued currency, and ordinary savers watched their purchasing power erode. Ironically, in 2009, bailed-out Wall Street banks still paid $18.4 billion in bonuses.

Satoshi’s Paradox
This was the context for Satoshi’s message in the genesis block: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks."

He saw the paradox:

• Banks privatize profits but socialize losses.

• Central banks can print money indefinitely, eroding savers’ purchasing power.

• The system is built on "trust," but that trust is systematically betrayed.

The whitepaper emerged from this backdrop. Satoshi proposed a solution: replace trust with code, eliminate currency over-issuance through a fixed supply, and let decentralized consensus replace centralized authority.

2025: A New World, Yet Familiar
Fast-forward to 2025. On the surface, everything has changed. Cryptocurrency market caps hit new highs, 60% of global stock markets reach records, Bitcoin is packaged into ETFs, and traditional giants like BlackRock and Fidelity are among the largest holders.

Even traditional markets have rebounded.

But what about the underlying logic? Let’s understand the 2025 U.S. debt crisis in simple terms.

What Is U.S. National Debt, and Why the Crisis?
Think of the U.S. government as a household with massive income and expenses. In 2025, its "annual income" (tax revenue) is about $5.2 trillion, while "annual spending" reaches $7 trillion. The $1.8 trillion deficit is funded by borrowing—issuing Treasury bonds. These bonds are IOUs, promising repayment with interest.

As of October 23, 2025, U.S. national debt exceeds $38 trillion. To put this in perspective:

• Repaying at $1 per second would take 1.2 million years.

• Per capita debt (including infants) is about $114,000.

• Debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 123%.

The debt growth rate is alarming:

• 2000: $5.7 trillion (55% of GDP)

• 2008: $10 trillion (65% of GDP)

• 2020: $28 trillion (98% of GDP)

• 2025: $38 trillion (123% of GDP)

In just five years, U.S. debt grew by $10 trillion.

Borrowing isn’t free. In 2025, the U.S. pays $1.2 trillion annually in interest—exceeding major budget items like defense ($842 billion), Medicare ($830 billion), and education ($101 billion).

In other words, the government’s largest expense is interest.

Compounding the problem, interest rates are rising. The average Treasury rate climbed from 1.61% in 2021 to 3.36% in 2025.

What does a rate doubling mean?

• On $1 million debt, annual interest jumps from $16,100 to $33,600.

• For the U.S., every 1% rate increase adds ~$380 billion in annual interest.

This creates a self-reinforcing "debt snowball"—growing larger and harder to stop.

The U.S. fiscal situation is trapped in a vicious cycle: spending exceeds revenue, requiring more borrowing. More debt means heavier interest burdens, driving even higher spending and borrowing—a feedback loop accelerating over time.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this trend will worsen:

• 2025: Debt at 100% of GDP

• 2027: 106% (surpassing WWII peak)

• 2035: 118%

• 2047: 200%

The debt snowball is expanding exponentially.

Some may ask: As the world’s largest economy with the global reserve currency, can’t the U.S. borrow indefinitely? Superficially, yes—but three fatal risks loom.

Risk 1: Debt Ceiling Crisis
Congress sets a statutory debt ceiling. In July 2025, it was raised to $41.1 trillion, but at current borrowing rates, the limit will be hit again by 2026. If Congress fails to raise it, the government could default. The 2023 debt ceiling standoff already led S&P to downgrade U.S. credit from AAA to AA+, triggering market volatility and a near-government shutdown.

Risk 2: Eroding Dollar Credibility
The dollar’s reserve status relies on global trust in U.S. credit—that it will repay debts and preserve value. This trust is eroding:

• BRICS+ nations push de-dollarization.

• Yuan usage in oil trades is rising.

• Central banks are selling Treasuries and buying gold.

IMF data shows the dollar’s share of global reserves fell from 71% in 2000 to 58% in 2025. If the dollar loses reserve status, the U.S. will struggle to borrow cheaply, accelerating a debt crisis.

Risk 3: The Inflation Demon
When debt becomes unpayable, governments have three options: cut spending, raise taxes, or print money. The first two are politically untenable, leaving the third: debt monetization—the Fed prints money to buy Treasuries, indirectly funding the government.

The cost? Inflation. More money supply devalues each dollar. Since 2008, the dollar’s purchasing power has fallen 27%. If debt monetization accelerates, inflation will worsen—paid for by ordinary people’s savings and living costs.

Same Essence, Larger Scale
Comparing the two crises reveals startling similarities:

The essence of both crises is identical: systemic risk from excessive credit expansion, "solved" by printing money, eroding ordinary people’s wealth preservation capacity.

Why Bitcoin?
During the 2008 crisis, Bitcoin was merely a concept. The genesis block was mined on January 3, 2009—no exchanges, no price, no ecosystem, just a few cryptographers discussing an experimental electronic cash system. Its market cap was zero, with no real-world impact.

By 2025, the picture is截然不同 (completely different). Bitcoin has run uninterrupted for 17 years, distributed across hundreds of thousands of nodes, with a hash rate of 650 EH/s—unprecedented security. Its market cap is ~$2.4 trillion, surpassing silver to become the world’s seventh-largest asset.

Institutions like BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF manage $89 billion. Sovereign nations like El Salvador and Bhutan hold Bitcoin in reserves. Companies like MicroStrategy hold 640,808 BTC (~$69 billion). From "zero price" to $126,200 per coin, Bitcoin has completed long-term price validation across markets.

Crucially, Bitcoin has withstood "extinction-level" crises:

• 2018 bear market: Price dropped 84%, network intact.

• 2020 pandemic: 50% crash in 24 hours, rapid recovery.

• 2022 crypto winter: FTX collapse, Luna implosion—Bitcoin held above $10,000.

This means when the next systemic crisis hits, people have a 17-year-tested alternative:
A decentralized system that has never defaulted, never inflated, never been shut down.

In 2008, Satoshi asked: "If we can’t trust banks, what can we trust?"
In 2025, the question has escalated: "If we can’t even trust sovereign credit, what can we trust?"

The 2008 answer was an experiment, an idea, a 9-page whitepaper.
The 2025 answer is a validated system, a $2.4 trillion asset class, a 17-year-running network.

Holder Identity Reconstruction: From Utopia to Wall Street
Satoshi’s whitepaper outlined Bitcoin as a pure peer-to-peer electronic cash system—no intermediaries, no censorship, no inflation. A techno-utopian manifesto against the financial Leviathan.

Early Bitcoin communities were cypherpunks, hackers, and libertarians. They discussed code on forums, bought pizza with Bitcoin (May 22, 2010: Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, worth over $1.2 billion today), and tested censorship-resistant payments on Silk Road.

But history doesn’t follow idealists’ scripts. Bitcoin’s evolution is filled with compromise, controversy, and unexpected turns.

2017: CME Launches BTC Futures
Wall Street’s first formal recognition of Bitcoin as a financial asset. Though controversial for "betraying decentralization," it marked Bitcoin’s shift from fringe to mainstream.

2021: Tesla & MicroStrategy’s Bets
Michael Saylor transformed MicroStrategy’s balance sheet into Bitcoin, pioneering "cor treasury strategy." Tesla bought $1.5 billion in BTC. Traditional corporate participation turned Bitcoin from "speculative asset" to "asset allocation option."

September 2021: El Salvador’s National Experiment
Under President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Despite IMF opposition and implementation challenges, this was sovereign-level endorsement. As of September 2025, El Salvador holds 6,313 BTC (>$700 million), with unrealized gains exceeding $400 million.

January 2024: The ETF Milestone
The SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Ark Invest. One of Bitcoin’s most critical turning points.

Who’s Buying Now?
Today’s Bitcoin is no longer just for retail and geeks—it’s formally integrated into institutional asset allocation.

• Wisconsin State Investment Board (SWIB): Manages ~$156 billion, bought $164 million in Bitcoin ETFs in Q2 2024—among the first U.S. state pension funds to disclose Bitcoin exposure.

• Harvard Management Company: Allocated ~$116 million to Bitcoin ETFs in Q2 2024, marking endorsement from a top educational endowment.

• Morgan Stanley: 15 million clients can buy Bitcoin ETFs via wealth management accounts (minimum $100,000). Traditional finance clients accessing Bitcoin compliantly.

Broader data shows over 937 institutions disclosed Bitcoin ETF holdings in SEC 13F filings—pension funds, endowments, hedge funds, family offices.

Philosophical Reflection: Compromise or Maturity?
This evolution sparks fierce debate.

Critics say Wall Street’s embrace is "co-option." When BlackRock holds massive Bitcoin, when ETFs become the main entry, Bitcoin loses its decentralized soul, becoming just another asset controlled by financial elites.

Supporters argue broader adoption is inevitable evolution. Bitcoin’s core value—fixed supply, decentralization, censorship resistance—remains unchanged. Even if Wall Street buys Bitcoin, they can’t alter protocol rules or print new coins.

In reality, formal compromise achieves ideological steadfastness.

Bitcoin didn’t change to suit Wall Street; Wall Street had to accept Bitcoin’s rules. When BlackRock wants to hold Bitcoin, they must learn private key management, accept the decentralized network, and acknowledge the 21,000,000 supply cap.

For the first time, traditional finance bowed to Bitcoin.

Satoshi didn’t design Bitcoin for a small circle but to create a monetary system usable by all, verifiable by all, and controllable by none. From this perspective, institutional adoption is a necessary path.

Bitcoin: The Asset That Thrives on Real-World Entropy
"Entropy Increase": The Key to Understanding Chaos
Let’s introduce a physics concept: entropy.

The second law of thermodynamics states entropy measures system disorder. In closed systems, entropy always increases—this is "entropy increase." Coffee cools, rooms messy, order tends toward disorder.

This physics concept perfectly metaphors Bitcoin’s value.

In economic and social systems, "entropy increase" isn’t abstract—it’s happening in every complex system.

Imagine a startup: small size, clear goals, simple processes. Everyone knows their role, information flows efficiently, decisions are clear—system "entropy" is low.

As the company grows, hierarchy increases, staff turnover rises, inter-departmental friction, information delays, and institutional rigidity emerge. Initial clarity gives way to noise: more meetings, longer documents, blurred responsibilities. At some point, the company loses its original direction.

This is classic "organizational entropy increase."

Economic systems are similar. More currency issuance, more complex debt, more entangled politics and finance—the harder it is to maintain original order. Every crisis is a natural expression of entropy increase.

Bitcoin is an anti-entropy mechanism.

Bitcoin’s "Negative Entropy" Attributes
1. Supply Rigidity: The Iron Law of 21,000,000
In fiat systems, money supply is elastic and arbitrary. Central banks adjust liquidity based on economic conditions, often printing more money.

Take the U.S. dollar:

• 2008: Fed balance sheet ~$800 billion, M2 money supply $7.5 trillion

• 2020: Balance sheet $4.5 trillion, M2 $15.5 trillion

• 2025: Balance sheet $7 trillion, M2 $21 trillion

In 17 years, dollar supply grew 180%, diluting ordinary savers’ purchasing power by nearly two-thirds.

This trend isn’t unique to the U.S.:

• Japan: Central bank balance sheet at 130% of GDP—world’s highest

• EU: €1.85 trillion pandemic bond-buying program

• China: M2 grew from 47 trillion yuan in 2008 to 280 trillion yuan in 2025—a sixfold increase

Think of it this way: If there were 100 apples, and you owned 10 (10%), but the central bank "printed" 900 new apples, total becomes 1,000, and your 10 apples now represent 1%. Your absolute wealth unchanged, but relative wealth diluted 90%.

Bitcoin’s supply mechanism is the opposite. Its issuance rules are coded, total fixed at 21 million coins, halving automatically every four years, unchangeable by anyone.

As of November 2025, Bitcoin’s supply curve nears its end. ~19.58 million BTC mined (93.2% total), ~1.42 million (6.8%) to be released over 115 years via halving cycles.

Bitcoin is entering an unprecedented "scarcity era":

• Inflation rate falling: ~1.7% in 2024, ~0.85% post-2028 halving—below Fed’s 2% long-term inflation target

• Natural deflation: ~1 million BTC permanently lost annually from lost keys, deceased holders, or errors—effectively reducing circulating supply.

2. Decentralization: No Single Point of Failure
Overly centralized systems are prone to corruption, manipulation, and abuse. Concentrated power means concentrated risk and decision-making; when mistakes happen, the entire system pays.

Traditional finance is notably centralized:

• Money issuance: The Fed’s seven board members decide multi-trillion dollar monetary policy.

• Payment systems: SWIFT, Visa, Mastercard control transactions, can freeze any individual or institution.

• Bank accounts: Not truly owned—administrative orders can freeze assets, as with 2022 Canada trucker protests.

Bitcoin’s decentralization contrasts sharply:

• ~180,000 full nodes globally: 35% North America, 40% Europe, 20% Asia, 5% elsewhere

• Anyone can run a node: ordinary computer + 2TB hard drive, ~$500 cost

• Nodes mean rules validated by all participants, not decreed by central authority

Hash rate security maintained by globally distributed miners:

• Total hash rate: ~650 EH/s

• Top 5 mining pools: ~55% combined, none control >25%

• Geographic distribution: U.S. 38%, Canada 7%, Russia 5%, Kazakhstan 4%, rest across Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia

No single country, institution, or company can unilaterally control or shut down the network.

3. Transparency
Bitcoin’s transparency eliminates traditional finance’s information black boxes. In fiat systems, the public is often excluded from key data:

• 2008 bailout fund flows unclear

• Fed QE asset purchase details opaque

• Foreign central bank currency swaps partially secret

• Even 2023 Silicon Valley Bank collapse—clients unaware of massive long-term bond losses

In Bitcoin, such asymmetry hardly exists. Every transaction, every block, every transfer is publicly recorded on-chain, verifiable by anyone.

Historical Validation: Entropy Increase & BTC Price Correlation
Let’s examine the data.

March 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic
Global central banks launched unprecedented QE. Fed balance sheet ballooned from $4.2T to $7.4T in a year. Bitcoin’s response? Soared from $3,800 (March 2020 low) to $69,000 (November 2021)—over 1,700% gain.

2022: Russia-Ukraine War & Financial Sanctions
Western nations froze ~$300 billion of Russian forex reserves. This unprecedented financial weaponization made countries rethink reserve asset safety.

2024-2025: ETF Approval & U.S. Debt Crisis
As U.S. debt passed $35 trillion, interest payments surpassed defense spending, and CBO projected debt reaching 135% of GDP by 2035, Bitcoin broke to new all-time highs, reaching $126,200.

Future Projection: Accelerating Entropy
Looking ahead, three trends will further accelerate real-world entropy:

1. AI Impact
AI is reshaping global labor markets. As AI replaces repetitive jobs, structural unemployment may become chronic. Governments may implement Universal Basic Income (UBI) to maintain stability—funded almost certainly by printing money. New money means new inflation, another round of "monetary entropy increase."

Meanwhile, AI-generated content blurs "truth." Images, voices, text can be algorithmically forged—information reliability plummets, representing "information entropy increase." In such a world, an immutable, verifiable ledger becomes crucial.

2. Resource Competition
Extreme weather, energy/food shortages, and supply chain conflicts exacerbate global resource inequality. Failed international cooperation fragments world order—another form of "order entropy increase."

As trust between nations erodes, a neutral, decentralized settlement layer becomes essential. Bitcoin has no borders, no political stance—in a fragmented world, it can be the minimal consensus for global value exchange.

3. Generational Wealth Gap
Gen Z and millennials grew up in the shadow of financial crises. They witnessed housing bubbles burst, student loan burdens, and pension systems crumble. Their distrust of traditional finance isn’t emotional rebellion but structural awareness.

According to VanEck’s 2025 survey, young consumers in emerging markets prefer Bitcoin over gold for value storage. Raised digital natives, they trust algorithms over institutions, code over authority.

As long as the real-world "chaos index" keeps rising—money printing, debt失控 (out-of-control), geopolitical fragmentation, information pollution—Bitcoin’s value as an "order anchor" will keep growing.

Seventeen Years Later: The "Satoshis" of Today
Satoshi disappeared in 2011, leaving behind code and a question: "Can this experiment continue?"

Seventeen years later, the answer is yes. But this answer wasn’t given by Satoshi alone—it was written by countless "Satoshis" who carried forward his spirit, redefined its meaning, and expanded its boundaries.

Guardians of the Protocol: Code as Constitution
Core developers (e.g., Wladimir van der Laan, Pieter Wuille) are Bitcoin’s "anonymous guardians." In the 2017 SegWit2x battle, major mining pools and exchanges pushed for block size increases, trying to change Bitcoin’s core rules. Core developers refused compromise, insisting "Bitcoin’s value lies in rule immutability." The community sided with them, proving a principle: code is constitution, no one can unilaterally change it.

Lightning Network developers (e.g., Elizabeth Stark) built a Layer 2 payment network on Bitcoin, enabling small, frequent payments. El Salvador uses Lightning for daily transactions—realizing the original "peer-to-peer electronic cash" vision without compromising base-layer security.

Pioneers of Application: From Idea to Reality
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, is the boldest national-level experimenter. On September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Bukele launched Chivo wallet (Lightning-based), gave $30 Bitcoin to each citizen, installed 200 Bitcoin ATMs, and from November 2022, executed a "daily 1 BTC purchase" strategy. He did something unprecedented: in March 2024, he publicly disclosed the national Bitcoin wallet address, letting the world monitor holdings in real-time.

As of September 2025, El Salvador holds 6,313 BTC, invested ~$300 million, unrealized gains >$400 million (133% return). Practical results: tourism up 55% ("Bitcoin pilgrimage"), remittance costs fell from 10% to <1% ($2.4 billion cumulative savings), 3 million use Chivo wallet (47% population). Despite IMF opposition and conditioning a $1.3 billion loan on revoking Bitcoin’s legal tender status, Bukele only agreed to make merchant acceptance "voluntary," retaining legal tender status and continuing purchases.

Bukele’s vision is clear: "When the dollar eventually loses reserve status, prepared countries will win. El Salvador will be one." Whether this experiment ultimately succeeds, this nation of 6.4 million is writing Bitcoin’s boldest national experiment, influencing future sovereign attitudes toward Bitcoin.

Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), took "corporate Bitcoinization" to the extreme. In August 2020, as pandemic-era corporate cash depreciated, Saylor made a radical decision: transform MicroStrategy’s balance sheet into Bitcoin. He issued convertible bonds and equity to fund continuous Bitcoin purchases, creating the "Bitcoin barbell strategy": use debt/equity financing to buy Bitcoin, use Bitcoin appreciation to repay debt, creating a positive feedback loop.

As of October 30, 2025, Strategy holds 640,808 BTC (~3% total supply), total cost ~$42.4 billion, current value ~$69 billion, unrealized gains $26.6 billion. Company stock rose 3,300% over five years, far outpacing Bitcoin’s 1,100% gain. Saylor’s strategy is now mimicked by dozens of public companies (Metaplanet, Marathon Holdings, etc.), forming a new "Bitcoin treasury company" category.

Saylor’s philosophy is simple: "Bitcoin is the highest form of property in human history. We will not sell Bitcoin, ever. Whoever gets the most Bitcoin wins." He transformed a $1 billion traditional software company into a $121 billion Bitcoin development company via Bitcoin strategy—one of the boldest balance sheet restructurings in corporate finance history.

Evangelists of Thought: Bridging Two Worlds
Lyn Alden, macro analyst, explains Bitcoin’s monetary properties in traditional finance language. Her research is widely read by Wall Street fund managers and pension administrators. Core thesis: Bitcoin isn’t a "digital tulip" but a "monetary technology upgrade"—money evolution from "hard to counterfeit" to "easy to transport." Bitcoin satisfies both (harder to counterfeit than gold, easier to transport than paper). She bridges traditional finance and crypto.

Nic Carter, Castle Island Ventures partner, reframed Bitcoin mining’s energy debate. Facing "Bitcoin consumes too much energy" criticism, he proposed a new framework: energy consumption itself isn’t the issue; wasted energy is. He notes 52% of Bitcoin mining uses renewables, many miners use "stranded energy" (excess hydropower), and mining can stabilize grids. This work changed ESG investor perceptions, enabling more institutional capital to allocate compliantly.

Infrastructure Builders: Lowering Barriers
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, built a compliant exchange letting ordinary people safely access Bitcoin. Coinbase is custodian for 7 of 11 Bitcoin ETFs, proving a reality: most people need regulated, user-friendly on-ramps.

Jack Dorsey, Block (formerly Square) founder, integrated Bitcoin payments into mainstream apps via Cash App. In 2018, Cash App became the first major payment app supporting Bitcoin buying/selling. By 2024, over 13 million Americans bought Bitcoin via Cash App—concrete "mass adoption." Dorsey also funds Bitcoin Development Kit open-source tools, helping developers easily build Bitcoin apps.

Satoshi designed the engine; these people built the roads. Bitcoin’s success isn’t Satoshi’s alone—it’s the collective achievement of countless inheritors of his spirit.

What Is Contemporary Bitcoin Spirit?
When AI can forge any voice, any face, we need an unforgeable ledger.

When regulators say "innovation must stay within our defined boundaries," we need permissionless innovation space.

When everyone celebrates "crypto finally accepted by mainstream," we need those who remember Bitcoin wasn’t meant to be accepted, but to exist even when rejected.

In an increasingly centralized world, preserving a decentralized option—this is the contemporary meaning of Bitcoin spirit.

Conclusion
Returning to the opening question: Why do we still need Bitcoin after 17 years?

Bitcoin itself offers four answers:

• Historically: The 2008 problem unresolved, worse in 2025.

• Functionally: Bitcoin evolved from payment tool to value store.

• Philosophically: Bitcoin is a negative entropy mechanism against chaos.

• Spiritually: Amid AI, regulation, and institutionalization, Bitcoin spirit is the courage to keep questioning and creating.

But the truest answer may be simpler:

Seventeen years later, we still need Bitcoin—

Not because it’s perfect,

But because the world isn’t good enough.

Background & Current State:
Bitcoin was born during the 2008 financial crisis, designed to address trust issues in the centralized financial system. Seventeen years later, global debt crises have intensified (U.S. national debt stands at $38 trillion, with annual interest payments of $1.2 trillion), exposing the fragility of the traditional financial system.

Core Value:

• Decentralization & Inflation Resistance: With a fixed supply of 21 million coins, Bitcoin cannot be over-issued, offering an alternative to counter currency devaluation.

• Maturity & Validation: After 17 years of development, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has reached $2.4 trillion, establishing it as a mainstream asset (e.g., BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF manages $89 billion). It has demonstrated resilience through multiple crises, such as the 2020 pandemic crash.

Practical Significance:

• Institutional Adoption: Bitcoin has expanded from early libertarians to Wall Street institutions (e.g., Wisconsin Pension Fund, Harvard Endowment allocating to Bitcoin ETFs), driving compliance and large-scale adoption.

• Countering Entropy: Amid escalating "chaos" from debt expansion, geopolitical conflicts, and AI disruptions, Bitcoin serves as an "anchor of order" for value storage through its supply rigidity, transparent ledger, and decentralized network.

Future Role:
As a trustless foundational infrastructure independent of sovereign credit, Bitcoin continues to offer wealth protection and financial autonomy in the face of systemic risks like monetary oversupply and information pollution.

Introduction: Two Eras, One Question
On October 31, 2008, as the global financial system teetered in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis, a cryptographer named Satoshi Nakamoto sent a whitepaper to a niche cryptography mailing list. The title was succinct: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

Seventeen years later, on November 1, 2025, as we revisit this document, the calendar has changed, but the world looks strikingly similar.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the $2.7 trillion bank bailouts have been replaced by $38 trillion in U.S. national debt and $1.2 trillion in annual interest payments. The prophecy embedded by Satoshi in the genesis block—"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"—has not become obsolete; instead, it feels more piercing in 2025.

Seventeen years ago, Bitcoin emerged from skepticism toward the centralized financial system. Today, that skepticism has not been resolved but has grown more urgent.

The question is: In the seemingly "under-control" landscape of 2025, with Wall Street embracing Bitcoin, governments discussing strategic reserves, and prices hitting new highs, why do we still need Bitcoin?

2008 vs. 2025: A Tale of Two Crises
2008: The Collapse of the Old World
In the early hours of September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank, declared bankruptcy—the largest in U.S. history, with $613 billion in total liabilities.

Let’s understand the crisis through a simple story:

Imagine you are a restaurant waiter with an unstable income, earning $30,000 a year. Under traditional standards, you wouldn’t qualify for a loan. But in the early 2000s, banks approached you, saying, "No problem! We can lend you $500,000 to buy a house. For the first two years, you’ll pay minimal interest. Housing prices will rise, and you can resell for a profit!"

Bank employees cared about their KPIs, upper management cared about selling loans to financial institutions, and you cared about owning a home. In this system, no one was at fault—as long as housing prices kept rising, the game could continue indefinitely.

This was the "subprime mortgage"—high-risk loans to borrowers with poor credit and repayment capacity. From 2000 to 2007, such loans surged in the U.S., from about $130 billion to $600 billion.

After issuing these loans, banks didn’t hold onto them (due to high risk) but performed a "magic trick":

• Bundled thousands of loans together

• Sliced them into tiers of "bonds" (called MBS—Mortgage-Backed Securities)

• Repackaged these into more complex products (CDOs—Collateralized Debt Obligations)

• Had rating agencies assign these products "AAA" ratings (the safest grade, equivalent to U.S. Treasuries)

It was like mixing rotten apples with good ones, repackaging them, and labeling them "premium fruit."

Lehman Brothers heavily invested in these "AAA-rated" securitized products, using borrowed money (leverage). By 2007, Lehman’s leverage ratio reached 31:1—meaning for every $1 of its own capital, it managed $31 in assets.

Then, in 2006, U.S. housing prices began to fall. Subprime borrowers found themselves trapped—falling prices shrank home equity, rising interest rates increased repayment burdens, and selling became impossible. Many defaulted.

As the chain reaction spread, subprime mortgage default rates soared: about 13% in 2006, surpassing 25% by 2008.

This meant those "AAA-rated" securities were fraught with risk. Overnight, so-called quality assets turned "toxic." Lehman Brothers’ billions in such assets became worthless.

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy: $613 billion in liabilities, 25,000 employees jobless.

After Lehman’s collapse, the financial system plunged into unprecedented panic. Banks stopped trusting each other (no one knew who held toxic assets), interbank lending froze, credit markets seized, businesses couldn’t secure loans, and stock markets plummeted—the Dow Jones fell about 2,000 points in a week, a 14% drop. Unemployment rose from 5% to over 10% by October 2009.

Facing systemic collapse, the U.S. government intervened:

• The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) allocated $700 billion to buy toxic assets from banks.

• The Federal Reserve launched quantitative easing (QE), printing money to buy bonds, expanding its balance sheet from $800 billion in 2008 to $4.5 trillion by 2014.

Yet, who bore the cost of the bailout? Taxpayer money rescued banks, Fed printing devalued currency, and ordinary savers watched their purchasing power erode. Ironically, in 2009, bailed-out Wall Street banks still paid $18.4 billion in bonuses.

Satoshi’s Paradox
This was the context for Satoshi’s message in the genesis block: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks."

He saw the paradox:

• Banks privatize profits but socialize losses.

• Central banks can print money indefinitely, eroding savers’ purchasing power.

• The system is built on "trust," but that trust is systematically betrayed.

The whitepaper emerged from this backdrop. Satoshi proposed a solution: replace trust with code, eliminate currency over-issuance through a fixed supply, and let decentralized consensus replace centralized authority.

2025: A New World, Yet Familiar
Fast-forward to 2025. On the surface, everything has changed. Cryptocurrency market caps hit new highs, 60% of global stock markets reach records, Bitcoin is packaged into ETFs, and traditional giants like BlackRock and Fidelity are among the largest holders.

Even traditional markets have rebounded.

But what about the underlying logic? Let’s understand the 2025 U.S. debt crisis in simple terms.

What Is U.S. National Debt, and Why the Crisis?
Think of the U.S. government as a household with massive income and expenses. In 2025, its "annual income" (tax revenue) is about $5.2 trillion, while "annual spending" reaches $7 trillion. The $1.8 trillion deficit is funded by borrowing—issuing Treasury bonds. These bonds are IOUs, promising repayment with interest.

As of October 23, 2025, U.S. national debt exceeds $38 trillion. To put this in perspective:

• Repaying at $1 per second would take 1.2 million years.

• Per capita debt (including infants) is about $114,000.

• Debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 123%.

The debt growth rate is alarming:

• 2000: $5.7 trillion (55% of GDP)

• 2008: $10 trillion (65% of GDP)

• 2020: $28 trillion (98% of GDP)

• 2025: $38 trillion (123% of GDP)

In just five years, U.S. debt grew by $10 trillion.

Borrowing isn’t free. In 2025, the U.S. pays $1.2 trillion annually in interest—exceeding major budget items like defense ($842 billion), Medicare ($830 billion), and education ($101 billion).

In other words, the government’s largest expense is interest.

Compounding the problem, interest rates are rising. The average Treasury rate climbed from 1.61% in 2021 to 3.36% in 2025.

What does a rate doubling mean?

• On $1 million debt, annual interest jumps from $16,100 to $33,600.

• For the U.S., every 1% rate increase adds ~$380 billion in annual interest.

This creates a self-reinforcing "debt snowball"—growing larger and harder to stop.

The U.S. fiscal situation is trapped in a vicious cycle: spending exceeds revenue, requiring more borrowing. More debt means heavier interest burdens, driving even higher spending and borrowing—a feedback loop accelerating over time.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), this trend will worsen:

• 2025: Debt at 100% of GDP

• 2027: 106% (surpassing WWII peak)

• 2035: 118%

• 2047: 200%

The debt snowball is expanding exponentially.

Some may ask: As the world’s largest economy with the global reserve currency, can’t the U.S. borrow indefinitely? Superficially, yes—but three fatal risks loom.

Risk 1: Debt Ceiling Crisis
Congress sets a statutory debt ceiling. In July 2025, it was raised to $41.1 trillion, but at current borrowing rates, the limit will be hit again by 2026. If Congress fails to raise it, the government could default. The 2023 debt ceiling standoff already led S&P to downgrade U.S. credit from AAA to AA+, triggering market volatility and a near-government shutdown.

Risk 2: Eroding Dollar Credibility
The dollar’s reserve status relies on global trust in U.S. credit—that it will repay debts and preserve value. This trust is eroding:

• BRICS+ nations push de-dollarization.

• Yuan usage in oil trades is rising.

• Central banks are selling Treasuries and buying gold.

IMF data shows the dollar’s share of global reserves fell from 71% in 2000 to 58% in 2025. If the dollar loses reserve status, the U.S. will struggle to borrow cheaply, accelerating a debt crisis.

Risk 3: The Inflation Demon
When debt becomes unpayable, governments have three options: cut spending, raise taxes, or print money. The first two are politically untenable, leaving the third: debt monetization—the Fed prints money to buy Treasuries, indirectly funding the government.

The cost? Inflation. More money supply devalues each dollar. Since 2008, the dollar’s purchasing power has fallen 27%. If debt monetization accelerates, inflation will worsen—paid for by ordinary people’s savings and living costs.

Same Essence, Larger Scale
Comparing the two crises reveals startling similarities:

The essence of both crises is identical: systemic risk from excessive credit expansion, "solved" by printing money, eroding ordinary people’s wealth preservation capacity.

Why Bitcoin?
During the 2008 crisis, Bitcoin was merely a concept. The genesis block was mined on January 3, 2009—no exchanges, no price, no ecosystem, just a few cryptographers discussing an experimental electronic cash system. Its market cap was zero, with no real-world impact.

By 2025, the picture is截然不同 (completely different). Bitcoin has run uninterrupted for 17 years, distributed across hundreds of thousands of nodes, with a hash rate of 650 EH/s—unprecedented security. Its market cap is ~$2.4 trillion, surpassing silver to become the world’s seventh-largest asset.

Institutions like BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF manage $89 billion. Sovereign nations like El Salvador and Bhutan hold Bitcoin in reserves. Companies like MicroStrategy hold 640,808 BTC (~$69 billion). From "zero price" to $126,200 per coin, Bitcoin has completed long-term price validation across markets.

Crucially, Bitcoin has withstood "extinction-level" crises:

• 2018 bear market: Price dropped 84%, network intact.

• 2020 pandemic: 50% crash in 24 hours, rapid recovery.

• 2022 crypto winter: FTX collapse, Luna implosion—Bitcoin held above $10,000.

This means when the next systemic crisis hits, people have a 17-year-tested alternative:
A decentralized system that has never defaulted, never inflated, never been shut down.

In 2008, Satoshi asked: "If we can’t trust banks, what can we trust?"
In 2025, the question has escalated: "If we can’t even trust sovereign credit, what can we trust?"

The 2008 answer was an experiment, an idea, a 9-page whitepaper.
The 2025 answer is a validated system, a $2.4 trillion asset class, a 17-year-running network.

Holder Identity Reconstruction: From Utopia to Wall Street
Satoshi’s whitepaper outlined Bitcoin as a pure peer-to-peer electronic cash system—no intermediaries, no censorship, no inflation. A techno-utopian manifesto against the financial Leviathan.

Early Bitcoin communities were cypherpunks, hackers, and libertarians. They discussed code on forums, bought pizza with Bitcoin (May 22, 2010: Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, worth over $1.2 billion today), and tested censorship-resistant payments on Silk Road.

But history doesn’t follow idealists’ scripts. Bitcoin’s evolution is filled with compromise, controversy, and unexpected turns.

2017: CME Launches BTC Futures
Wall Street’s first formal recognition of Bitcoin as a financial asset. Though controversial for "betraying decentralization," it marked Bitcoin’s shift from fringe to mainstream.

2021: Tesla & MicroStrategy’s Bets
Michael Saylor transformed MicroStrategy’s balance sheet into Bitcoin, pioneering "cor treasury strategy." Tesla bought $1.5 billion in BTC. Traditional corporate participation turned Bitcoin from "speculative asset" to "asset allocation option."

September 2021: El Salvador’s National Experiment
Under President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Despite IMF opposition and implementation challenges, this was sovereign-level endorsement. As of September 2025, El Salvador holds 6,313 BTC (>$700 million), with unrealized gains exceeding $400 million.

January 2024: The ETF Milestone
The SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Ark Invest. One of Bitcoin’s most critical turning points.

Who’s Buying Now?
Today’s Bitcoin is no longer just for retail and geeks—it’s formally integrated into institutional asset allocation.

• Wisconsin State Investment Board (SWIB): Manages ~$156 billion, bought $164 million in Bitcoin ETFs in Q2 2024—among the first U.S. state pension funds to disclose Bitcoin exposure.

• Harvard Management Company: Allocated ~$116 million to Bitcoin ETFs in Q2 2024, marking endorsement from a top educational endowment.

• Morgan Stanley: 15 million clients can buy Bitcoin ETFs via wealth management accounts (minimum $100,000). Traditional finance clients accessing Bitcoin compliantly.

Broader data shows over 937 institutions disclosed Bitcoin ETF holdings in SEC 13F filings—pension funds, endowments, hedge funds, family offices.

Philosophical Reflection: Compromise or Maturity?
This evolution sparks fierce debate.

Critics say Wall Street’s embrace is "co-option." When BlackRock holds massive Bitcoin, when ETFs become the main entry, Bitcoin loses its decentralized soul, becoming just another asset controlled by financial elites.

Supporters argue broader adoption is inevitable evolution. Bitcoin’s core value—fixed supply, decentralization, censorship resistance—remains unchanged. Even if Wall Street buys Bitcoin, they can’t alter protocol rules or print new coins.

In reality, formal compromise achieves ideological steadfastness.

Bitcoin didn’t change to suit Wall Street; Wall Street had to accept Bitcoin’s rules. When BlackRock wants to hold Bitcoin, they must learn private key management, accept the decentralized network, and acknowledge the 21,000,000 supply cap.

For the first time, traditional finance bowed to Bitcoin.

Satoshi didn’t design Bitcoin for a small circle but to create a monetary system usable by all, verifiable by all, and controllable by none. From this perspective, institutional adoption is a necessary path.

Bitcoin: The Asset That Thrives on Real-World Entropy
"Entropy Increase": The Key to Understanding Chaos
Let’s introduce a physics concept: entropy.

The second law of thermodynamics states entropy measures system disorder. In closed systems, entropy always increases—this is "entropy increase." Coffee cools, rooms messy, order tends toward disorder.

This physics concept perfectly metaphors Bitcoin’s value.

In economic and social systems, "entropy increase" isn’t abstract—it’s happening in every complex system.

Imagine a startup: small size, clear goals, simple processes. Everyone knows their role, information flows efficiently, decisions are clear—system "entropy" is low.

As the company grows, hierarchy increases, staff turnover rises, inter-departmental friction, information delays, and institutional rigidity emerge. Initial clarity gives way to noise: more meetings, longer documents, blurred responsibilities. At some point, the company loses its original direction.

This is classic "organizational entropy increase."

Economic systems are similar. More currency issuance, more complex debt, more entangled politics and finance—the harder it is to maintain original order. Every crisis is a natural expression of entropy increase.

Bitcoin is an anti-entropy mechanism.

Bitcoin’s "Negative Entropy" Attributes
1. Supply Rigidity: The Iron Law of 21,000,000
In fiat systems, money supply is elastic and arbitrary. Central banks adjust liquidity based on economic conditions, often printing more money.

Take the U.S. dollar:

• 2008: Fed balance sheet ~$800 billion, M2 money supply $7.5 trillion

• 2020: Balance sheet $4.5 trillion, M2 $15.5 trillion

• 2025: Balance sheet $7 trillion, M2 $21 trillion

In 17 years, dollar supply grew 180%, diluting ordinary savers’ purchasing power by nearly two-thirds.

This trend isn’t unique to the U.S.:

• Japan: Central bank balance sheet at 130% of GDP—world’s highest

• EU: €1.85 trillion pandemic bond-buying program

• China: M2 grew from 47 trillion yuan in 2008 to 280 trillion yuan in 2025—a sixfold increase

Think of it this way: If there were 100 apples, and you owned 10 (10%), but the central bank "printed" 900 new apples, total becomes 1,000, and your 10 apples now represent 1%. Your absolute wealth unchanged, but relative wealth diluted 90%.

Bitcoin’s supply mechanism is the opposite. Its issuance rules are coded, total fixed at 21 million coins, halving automatically every four years, unchangeable by anyone.

As of November 2025, Bitcoin’s supply curve nears its end. ~19.58 million BTC mined (93.2% total), ~1.42 million (6.8%) to be released over 115 years via halving cycles.

Bitcoin is entering an unprecedented "scarcity era":

• Inflation rate falling: ~1.7% in 2024, ~0.85% post-2028 halving—below Fed’s 2% long-term inflation target

• Natural deflation: ~1 million BTC permanently lost annually from lost keys, deceased holders, or errors—effectively reducing circulating supply.

2. Decentralization: No Single Point of Failure
Overly centralized systems are prone to corruption, manipulation, and abuse. Concentrated power means concentrated risk and decision-making; when mistakes happen, the entire system pays.

Traditional finance is notably centralized:

• Money issuance: The Fed’s seven board members decide multi-trillion dollar monetary policy.

• Payment systems: SWIFT, Visa, Mastercard control transactions, can freeze any individual or institution.

• Bank accounts: Not truly owned—administrative orders can freeze assets, as with 2022 Canada trucker protests.

Bitcoin’s decentralization contrasts sharply:

• ~180,000 full nodes globally: 35% North America, 40% Europe, 20% Asia, 5% elsewhere

• Anyone can run a node: ordinary computer + 2TB hard drive, ~$500 cost

• Nodes mean rules validated by all participants, not decreed by central authority

Hash rate security maintained by globally distributed miners:

• Total hash rate: ~650 EH/s

• Top 5 mining pools: ~55% combined, none control >25%

• Geographic distribution: U.S. 38%, Canada 7%, Russia 5%, Kazakhstan 4%, rest across Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia

No single country, institution, or company can unilaterally control or shut down the network.

3. Transparency
Bitcoin’s transparency eliminates traditional finance’s information black boxes. In fiat systems, the public is often excluded from key data:

• 2008 bailout fund flows unclear

• Fed QE asset purchase details opaque

• Foreign central bank currency swaps partially secret

• Even 2023 Silicon Valley Bank collapse—clients unaware of massive long-term bond losses

In Bitcoin, such asymmetry hardly exists. Every transaction, every block, every transfer is publicly recorded on-chain, verifiable by anyone.

Historical Validation: Entropy Increase & BTC Price Correlation
Let’s examine the data.

March 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic
Global central banks launched unprecedented QE. Fed balance sheet ballooned from $4.2T to $7.4T in a year. Bitcoin’s response? Soared from $3,800 (March 2020 low) to $69,000 (November 2021)—over 1,700% gain.

2022: Russia-Ukraine War & Financial Sanctions
Western nations froze ~$300 billion of Russian forex reserves. This unprecedented financial weaponization made countries rethink reserve asset safety.

2024-2025: ETF Approval & U.S. Debt Crisis
As U.S. debt passed $35 trillion, interest payments surpassed defense spending, and CBO projected debt reaching 135% of GDP by 2035, Bitcoin broke to new all-time highs, reaching $126,200.

Future Projection: Accelerating Entropy
Looking ahead, three trends will further accelerate real-world entropy:

1. AI Impact
AI is reshaping global labor markets. As AI replaces repetitive jobs, structural unemployment may become chronic. Governments may implement Universal Basic Income (UBI) to maintain stability—funded almost certainly by printing money. New money means new inflation, another round of "monetary entropy increase."

Meanwhile, AI-generated content blurs "truth." Images, voices, text can be algorithmically forged—information reliability plummets, representing "information entropy increase." In such a world, an immutable, verifiable ledger becomes crucial.

2. Resource Competition
Extreme weather, energy/food shortages, and supply chain conflicts exacerbate global resource inequality. Failed international cooperation fragments world order—another form of "order entropy increase."

As trust between nations erodes, a neutral, decentralized settlement layer becomes essential. Bitcoin has no borders, no political stance—in a fragmented world, it can be the minimal consensus for global value exchange.

3. Generational Wealth Gap
Gen Z and millennials grew up in the shadow of financial crises. They witnessed housing bubbles burst, student loan burdens, and pension systems crumble. Their distrust of traditional finance isn’t emotional rebellion but structural awareness.

According to VanEck’s 2025 survey, young consumers in emerging markets prefer Bitcoin over gold for value storage. Raised digital natives, they trust algorithms over institutions, code over authority.

As long as the real-world "chaos index" keeps rising—money printing, debt失控 (out-of-control), geopolitical fragmentation, information pollution—Bitcoin’s value as an "order anchor" will keep growing.

Seventeen Years Later: The "Satoshis" of Today
Satoshi disappeared in 2011, leaving behind code and a question: "Can this experiment continue?"

Seventeen years later, the answer is yes. But this answer wasn’t given by Satoshi alone—it was written by countless "Satoshis" who carried forward his spirit, redefined its meaning, and expanded its boundaries.

Guardians of the Protocol: Code as Constitution
Core developers (e.g., Wladimir van der Laan, Pieter Wuille) are Bitcoin’s "anonymous guardians." In the 2017 SegWit2x battle, major mining pools and exchanges pushed for block size increases, trying to change Bitcoin’s core rules. Core developers refused compromise, insisting "Bitcoin’s value lies in rule immutability." The community sided with them, proving a principle: code is constitution, no one can unilaterally change it.

Lightning Network developers (e.g., Elizabeth Stark) built a Layer 2 payment network on Bitcoin, enabling small, frequent payments. El Salvador uses Lightning for daily transactions—realizing the original "peer-to-peer electronic cash" vision without compromising base-layer security.

Pioneers of Application: From Idea to Reality
Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, is the boldest national-level experimenter. On September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Bukele launched Chivo wallet (Lightning-based), gave $30 Bitcoin to each citizen, installed 200 Bitcoin ATMs, and from November 2022, executed a "daily 1 BTC purchase" strategy. He did something unprecedented: in March 2024, he publicly disclosed the national Bitcoin wallet address, letting the world monitor holdings in real-time.

As of September 2025, El Salvador holds 6,313 BTC, invested ~$300 million, unrealized gains >$400 million (133% return). Practical results: tourism up 55% ("Bitcoin pilgrimage"), remittance costs fell from 10% to <1% ($2.4 billion cumulative savings), 3 million use Chivo wallet (47% population). Despite IMF opposition and conditioning a $1.3 billion loan on revoking Bitcoin’s legal tender status, Bukele only agreed to make merchant acceptance "voluntary," retaining legal tender status and continuing purchases.

Bukele’s vision is clear: "When the dollar eventually loses reserve status, prepared countries will win. El Salvador will be one." Whether this experiment ultimately succeeds, this nation of 6.4 million is writing Bitcoin’s boldest national experiment, influencing future sovereign attitudes toward Bitcoin.

Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), took "corporate Bitcoinization" to the extreme. In August 2020, as pandemic-era corporate cash depreciated, Saylor made a radical decision: transform MicroStrategy’s balance sheet into Bitcoin. He issued convertible bonds and equity to fund continuous Bitcoin purchases, creating the "Bitcoin barbell strategy": use debt/equity financing to buy Bitcoin, use Bitcoin appreciation to repay debt, creating a positive feedback loop.

As of October 30, 2025, Strategy holds 640,808 BTC (~3% total supply), total cost ~$42.4 billion, current value ~$69 billion, unrealized gains $26.6 billion. Company stock rose 3,300% over five years, far outpacing Bitcoin’s 1,100% gain. Saylor’s strategy is now mimicked by dozens of public companies (Metaplanet, Marathon Holdings, etc.), forming a new "Bitcoin treasury company" category.

Saylor’s philosophy is simple: "Bitcoin is the highest form of property in human history. We will not sell Bitcoin, ever. Whoever gets the most Bitcoin wins." He transformed a $1 billion traditional software company into a $121 billion Bitcoin development company via Bitcoin strategy—one of the boldest balance sheet restructurings in corporate finance history.

Evangelists of Thought: Bridging Two Worlds
Lyn Alden, macro analyst, explains Bitcoin’s monetary properties in traditional finance language. Her research is widely read by Wall Street fund managers and pension administrators. Core thesis: Bitcoin isn’t a "digital tulip" but a "monetary technology upgrade"—money evolution from "hard to counterfeit" to "easy to transport." Bitcoin satisfies both (harder to counterfeit than gold, easier to transport than paper). She bridges traditional finance and crypto.

Nic Carter, Castle Island Ventures partner, reframed Bitcoin mining’s energy debate. Facing "Bitcoin consumes too much energy" criticism, he proposed a new framework: energy consumption itself isn’t the issue; wasted energy is. He notes 52% of Bitcoin mining uses renewables, many miners use "stranded energy" (excess hydropower), and mining can stabilize grids. This work changed ESG investor perceptions, enabling more institutional capital to allocate compliantly.

Infrastructure Builders: Lowering Barriers
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, built a compliant exchange letting ordinary people safely access Bitcoin. Coinbase is custodian for 7 of 11 Bitcoin ETFs, proving a reality: most people need regulated, user-friendly on-ramps.

Jack Dorsey, Block (formerly Square) founder, integrated Bitcoin payments into mainstream apps via Cash App. In 2018, Cash App became the first major payment app supporting Bitcoin buying/selling. By 2024, over 13 million Americans bought Bitcoin via Cash App—concrete "mass adoption." Dorsey also funds Bitcoin Development Kit open-source tools, helping developers easily build Bitcoin apps.

Satoshi designed the engine; these people built the roads. Bitcoin’s success isn’t Satoshi’s alone—it’s the collective achievement of countless inheritors of his spirit.

What Is Contemporary Bitcoin Spirit?
When AI can forge any voice, any face, we need an unforgeable ledger.

When regulators say "innovation must stay within our defined boundaries," we need permissionless innovation space.

When everyone celebrates "crypto finally accepted by mainstream," we need those who remember Bitcoin wasn’t meant to be accepted, but to exist even when rejected.

In an increasingly centralized world, preserving a decentralized option—this is the contemporary meaning of Bitcoin spirit.

Conclusion
Returning to the opening question: Why do we still need Bitcoin after 17 years?

Bitcoin itself offers four answers:

• Historically: The 2008 problem unresolved, worse in 2025.

• Functionally: Bitcoin evolved from payment tool to value store.

• Philosophically: Bitcoin is a negative entropy mechanism against chaos.

• Spiritually: Amid AI, regulation, and institutionalization, Bitcoin spirit is the courage to keep questioning and creating.

But the truest answer may be simpler:

Seventeen years later, we still need Bitcoin—

Not because it’s perfect,

But because the world isn’t good enough.