Money as the cornerstone of civilizations Metal coins enabled large-scale trade. Gold sustained entire empires. The gold standard laid the foundation for the first true era of global commerce. Then came paper money, first backed by metals and later by nothing but the promise of the State. That system supported the rise of nation-states and the industrial modern age. Every shift in the form of money has also been a shift in the shape of civilization. Money has never been neutral: it is the software that coordinates the human hardware.

The fiat era: a civilization in crisis The break of 1971, when the gold standard was abandoned, opened the era of fiat money. Half a century later, the system shows its cracks: Inflation that erodes savings. Public and private debt at unsustainable levels. A middle class collapsing under pressure. But the consequences go beyond economics. A society that learns to live indebted normalizes dependence. Trust in institutions dissolves. Politics becomes the management of permanent crises. Fiat is a silent plague: it does not kill at once, but it corrodes from within.

Bitcoin: the incorruptible foundation In the midst of this collapse, Bitcoin emerges. A new form of money, born outside governments and banks, introducing principles never seen before in history: Absolute scarcity: 21 million, unchangeable. Time and energy converted into incorruptible money. True decentralization: anyone can join, validate, and self-custody. Resistance to censorship: a network that does not obey any center of power. For the first time, humanity has a global monetary base that does not depend on military strength or political will.

What does “new civilization” mean? We are not speaking of utopias. A civilization is not a perfect paradise—it is simply a way of organizing time, value, and trust. If fiat has given us a culture of debt, immediate consumption, and institutional dependence, Bitcoin opens the door to a different ethic: Direct economic relationships without intermediaries. A redistribution of power away from States. An ethos based on individual responsibility and personal sovereignty. Bitcoin is not the civilization itself. It is the cornerstone upon which a new one could be built.

Legitimate doubts Isn’t it too much to speak of the “foundation of a civilization”? It is natural to think so. Perhaps Bitcoin will not completely replace fiat. Maybe it will coexist with it for decades. Not all cultures may adopt it in the same way. But history reminds us that great mutations always begin like this: as the eccentricity of a minority. Printing, electricity, and the Internet were all seen at first as marginal curiosities. Today they are the ground we stand on.