Bitcoin Trojan Horse
Happy Bitcoin Friday! — Apr. 18, 2025
Bitcoin Trojan Horse
The story of the Trojan Horse comes from Greek mythology and centers on the cunning strategy the Greeks used to end the Trojan War.
After ten years of siege with no victory in sight, the Greeks pretended to retreat, leaving behind a massive wooden horse as a supposed offering to the gods for a safe journey home. Hidden inside the hollow horse were some of Greece’s best soldiers.
Believing they had won and that the horse was a gift, the Trojans brought it into the city of Troy. That night, while the Trojans celebrated, the Greek soldiers emerged from the horse, opened the city gates for the returning Greek army, and together they sacked and destroyed Troy, bringing the long war to a brutal end.
Odysseus was the mastermind behind the Trojan Horse. Known for his cunning and intelligence, Odysseus often relied on strategy over brute force, and the Trojan Horse scheme is considered one of his most brilliant tactics. It perfectly showcases the cleverness that defines his character throughout the Odyssey and other Greek myths.
Satoshi was the mastermind behind bitcoin. His true identity is not known. He is very much akin to Odysseus in the sense that he is a mythological hero.
Is Bitcoin a Trojan Horse?
Strategic Reserve
I mentioned it last week. The US Bitcoin Strategic Reserve is one of the four key events that occurred over the last year. It is the US government inviting bitcoin into the fold, embracing it as a reserve asset. The US just platformed bitcoin.
Bitcoin doesn’t need the US government but the US government might need or at least be able to utilize bitcoin to its own advantage.
Now, bitcoin doesn’t represent a people at war with the US government. Bitcoin is very much a neutral monetary instrument.
It’s a tool.
But, bitcoin is not a tool controlled by the US government so it is something of a Trojan Horse in the sense that the US government is now exposed to the same impacts of holding bitcoin that any individual or institutional holder is.
Money for All
Bitcoin is money for everyone.
Bitcoin is open-source, decentralized monetary technology that is available to anyone, anywhere in the world with just a temporary internet connection.
It is money for everyone.
A common early saying in bitcoin circles was that bitcoin is money for enemies. That’s the idea that you cannot stop or influence your enemy from holding or using bitcoin. While that’s true, it’s again important to note that bitcoin is not overtly considered a weapon. It’s not at war with anyone so bitcoin is money for everyone is the more widely applicable phrase.
So What?
Why am I talking about the Trojan Horse, wars, and money? It’s simple. We’ve entered a period in human history where money is backed by nothing.
For a period of almost half a century in the US, it was effectively illegal to hold or use gold for the average citizen. I wrote a post about Executive Order 6102.
Between the mid 1930s and the early 1970s, the US government orchestrated a centralized takeover of the world’s gold market. It cornered the market.
Then, in 1971, President Nixon abandoned the gold standard completely, announcing that the US would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value. In 1974, with Executive Order 11825, President Gerald Ford repealed Executive Order 6102. During this same period, we saw the rise of the petrodollar, making the US dollar the currency used for the exchange of oil.
50 years later, the influence of the petrodollar system is waning. This, combined with increased global turmoil, macro volatility, and instability around US dollar strength and government currencies more broadly means that we are in the early stages of what could potentially be a new era in the global economy.
Bitcoin?
Enter, bitcoin.
Bitcoin is poised to play a role in the new global economy. It is roughly just 0.02% of the world’s total assets currently but, unlike traditional, centralized or government-backed monetary instruments, its potential is far-reaching.
Bitcoin may very well be a Trojan Horse like asset. Often, the typical bitcoiner doesn’t even understand what he or she is holding or messing around with until they’ve experienced at least one full bitcoin market cycle (or about 4-5 years worth of holding or using bitcoin). The US government has held bitcoin for much longer than that but they’ve now officially embraced it in ways they previously haven’t.
Bitcoin is only possible in a world with government money that is backed by nothing. It is proof-of-work monetary technology, grounded in the real world via hardware used by miners and node operators, integrated with energy infrastructure to enable what has become the most powerful computing network in history.
Had the US remained on a true gold standard, bitcoin wouldn’t be needed nearly as much as it is today, at least within the US.
The value props around bitcoin of censorship-resistance and the lack of need for a trusted third party would remain, but the fact that the world has abandoned an economic system based on actual reserves means that bitcoin offers something that all government currencies do not.
Bitcoin is money backed by energy.
The hardware, the energy, the time and dedication required to enable it. That is what bitcoin is.
The world is just starting to understand bitcoin and many are distracted by blockchain and crypto at large.
The noise will unfortunately walk many down the wrong paths but it also extends bitcoin’s “Trojan Horse moment.”
Bitcoin has the time to continue to prove itself as it has for more than 16 years. It isn’t going anywhere and it’s always available to anyone and everyone.
I’ll be here using and watching it.
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Enjoy the weekend!
I am not an investment or financial advisor. All opinions expressed are mine alone. Read the full DISCLAIMER on the About page.
HODL on Garth.