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UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1900: Mercator Projection of the World (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)
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In 1997, James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg introduced the world to "mega-politics" in The Sovereign Individual, a book that remains eerily prescient decades later. The authors argued that certain forces – topography, climate, microbes, and technology – shape power dynamics by altering the costs and rewards of projecting power. Among key technologies, they identified cryptography as a revolutionary tool poised to usher in a new era of sovereignty through "cybermoney."
Today, their predictions have materialized in the form of bitcoin, a mega-political force that empowers individuals and nations to reclaim sovereignty from centralized institutions. Whether through El Salvador’s bitcoin-driven transformation, the rise of home bitcoin mining, or innovative financial products, bitcoin is reshaping the global economic order in 2025.
El Salvador: A Nation’s Journey to Sovereignty
El Salvador is perhaps the clearest example of bitcoin’s transformative power. Just five years ago, the country grappled with poverty, corruption, and crippling debt. Locked into agreements with institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its economic self-determination was severely constrained.
Since adopting bitcoin as legal tender, El Salvador has charted a new course. Its credit rating has improved to a stable B/B-/B+ range, foreign direct investment is surging, and major companies like Tether are relocating their headquarters to the country. Tether’s $137 billion USDT ecosystem will now be overseen from El Salvador, another step in the country’s transformation into a global tech hub.
Tether’s $8 billion in 2024 profits equates to roughly 20% of El Salvador’s annual GDP. The Salvadoran government has also used bitcoin to attract other major players, offering tax incentives under its ICT Innovation Law to further cement its reputation as a pro-bitcoin jurisdiction.
