2045: A World Under the Bitcoin Standard
The Rise of the Sovereign Individual and a Culture of Quality - by Juan Llauró
By 2045, Bitcoin’s dominance as the global reserve currency has reshaped civilisation in line with the foresight of The Sovereign Individual and the moral clarity of Von Mises, Hayek, Rothbard, Ayn Rand, and Robert Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality. Freed from the stealth theft of inflation, people now treat time, energy, and money as precious resources, investing them in purposeful living and voluntary exchange.
Everyday Life: The Pursuit of Quality and Purpose
Under a Bitcoin standard, everyday life shifts dramatically toward conscious value generation. Without fiat currency to erode savings or subsidise passive dependency, individuals approach time as their most valuable capital. This reality breeds a culture more akin to Ayn Rand’s Galt’s Gulch: intentional communities where reputation, merit, and quality define success.
Pirsig’s principle that quality is the true source of meaning echoes in daily routines. People craft their work with pride — whether building software, farming regenerative crops, or restoring old machines. They prioritise exercise and health not as trends but as necessities for self-sovereignty. Leisure is purposeful: spent learning, creating, or connecting with family and peers. Without bloated bureaucracies to dictate life, education becomes bespoke and practical, blending classical wisdom with modern skills.
Governance: Local, Voluntary, and Accountable
Governance reverts to its ancient Greek and Swiss roots — local, participatory, and bound by social contract. Taxation resembles a co-op fee contribution: visible, limited, and invested in agreed community goals. Communities, both physical and digital, compete to attract productive citizens by offering security, infrastructure, and justice efficiently. If leaders mismanage funds or abuse power, exit is swift — capital and people relocate easily. Negotiation and civic duty return as noble pursuits. Citizens debate budgets, approve projects, and see taxes not as sunk costs but as pooled investments that must generate measurable social value.
Welfare: From Dependency to Mutual Aid and Empowerment
With central banks defanged, unlimited welfare is gone. Instead, private insurance, decentralised charity, and local mutual aid fill the gap. Families and communities reclaim their traditional roles in supporting the elderly, sick, or truly needy. Crucially, people raised under a Bitcoin standard internalise a value-creation ethos from childhood. Fewer expect handouts; more contribute. Receiving help becomes conditional on honesty and a path back to self-reliance. Blockchain contracts make aid transparent and fraud-resistant, restoring trust to charity and social safety nets.
Signs of the Shift Today
Hints of this world are already visible. Bitcoin on corporate balance sheets, El Salvador’s legal tender experiment, and booming special economic zones signal the monetary pivot. Remote work and digital nomad visas let workers move capital and talent freely. DAOs and local blockchain communities test new ways to self-govern.
Perhaps most tellingly, in many emerging economies, organic private alternatives already fill gaps left by failing states. Gated communities and sports clubs provide security, leisure, and a social safety net where public policing falters. Private schools flourish even as taxpayers fund public systems that often underdeliver. These “parallel societies” demonstrate people’s willingness to pay twice — once through taxes and again privately — to ensure quality, safety, and opportunity for their families. This impulse for self-provisioning foreshadows a future where individuals expect more freedom to direct their resources into what works and opt out of what doesn’t.
From peer-to-peer privacy tools to self-custody digital wealth, each step chips away at the old fiat order. In its place emerges a civilisation of sovereign individuals — guided by sound money, voluntary governance, a culture of quality, and a profound respect for time well spent.