“Bitcoin is punk rock money.”
Bitcoin started as a pure, permissionless counterculture, in the same vein as early punk, hip-hop, or folk.
These were movements that began in the margins, dismissed and mocked by the mainstream because they didn't fit the established mold.
But if a counterculture is successful, it rarely stays niche.
Over time, the ethos tends to bleed into the broader world.
The Ramones started playing tiny dive bars like CBGB's and today, their influence is even felt in modern pop.
Bitcoin is following that exact trajectory.
As it moves toward global adoption, it’s carrying the values that birthed it, from self-sovereignty and resistance to decentralized control and individual freedom, and embedding them into the global financial architecture.
If hyperbitcoinization is to occur, most people who eventually use Bitcoin may never even hear the word "cypherpunk."
They won't necessarily know the history of the early days, but the underlying ethos will be transmitted anyway.
Gradually, behavior starts to shift because better money naturally leads to better decisions, and better decisions lead to better lives.
Not every Bitcoin user will be a hardcore ideologue.
Bitcoin just needs them to be incentivized to use a superior tool.
The culture is built into the code, and as the money spreads, the revolution happens on a deeper level.
