How Will Bitcoin Behave During a Crisis?

The discussion around Bitcoin—its success, failure, or real value—has strayed from its original path. To truly understand the Bitcoin revolution, one must first dive into the rabbit hole of the global economy and grasp a few simple yet profoundly influential principles that shape our lives. Money is one of the main forces driving human development. Financial history is filled with cycles of mania and depression, and the evolution of the financial system never ceases to surprise us.

In biblical times, a model existed in which money supply was limited and its value relatively stable, accompanied by interest-free lending and debt forgiveness every seventh year. This model is worlds apart from today’s financial reality. The cultural, economic, monetary, demographic, and geopolitical transformations since the Exodus from Egypt to our modern-day servitude to banks are too vast to recount here. So let’s begin in the 20th century.

For many years, the world operated under the “Gold Standard,” which tied the issuance of paper money to actual gold reserves. However, geopolitical and economic pressures in the 20th century eroded this system until it was abolished in 1971. Since then, we’ve lived under a fiat monetary system, where central banks create money whose value is backed only by legal decree. Each country’s central bank issues its own currency and manages its monetary policy. When a central bank prints money, it essentially creates debt and lends it to commercial banks, who in turn distribute it as interest-bearing loans. Thus, under the guise of legality, dull bankers became amphetamine-fueled alchemists.

The exponential increase in the money supply is hidden behind lofty terms like “stimulating growth,” “boosting the economy,” or “quantitative easing.” But in practice, it means trillions of dollars being pumped into the economy, inflating credit bubbles through fractional reserve banking. This debt circulates rapidly, collecting interest along the way, compounding and demanding ever more cash flow to service it. It’s an endless debt spiral.

Contrary to popular belief, debt is a legally binding obligation—issued with the expectation of repayment. So when more credit is issued than in the previous year, it’s based on the assumption that more labor, goods, or services will be produced in the future to repay it—with interest. But human labor, services, goods, and natural resources are all finite, unlike cheap money that can be printed endlessly. Thus, in a system where money supply exceeds productive capacity, the currency's purchasing power must inevitably fall.

Unlike the public perception of inflation as rising prices, inflation is a deliberate monetary policy—a silent tax that continuously dilutes citizens’ wealth. An inflationary economy must promote growth and, in doing so, punishes savers and pushes them toward consumption or risky investments simply to preserve value. When money is cheap, efficiency becomes irrelevant, and risk-taking is incentivized. Speculation becomes a global sport and dominates economic activity.

The modern financial system’s warped incentive structure wastes immense energy in a rat race that does little to advance humanity. This is the "growth trap"—eat, drink, for tomorrow we die—and our problems are deferred like a loan with compounding interest.

And if that weren’t enough, traditional banking has been joined by shadow banking systems over the past decades, which offer credit outside the regulated framework. These systems played a major role in the 2008 financial crisis and have since spread to China and other credit-hungry nations, further fueling the overheating economic engine.

The international banking system has become a convoluted Rube Goldberg machine, detached from reality. This isn’t a policy issue a central banker can fix—it’s a systemic flaw with no historical precedent. As they say about exponential functions, the action only begins at the end. One key trait of exponential growth is eventual loss of control.

While economic growth is good, our obsession with it stems not from consumer need, but from the system’s survival instinct. Without growth to match the pace of money printing and new credit (with compound interest), the economy collapses—there simply won’t be enough to pay back the debt. Natural growth is linear and steady; debt is exponential and volatile.

The endless printing of money, zero interest rates, and credit oversupply inflate capital markets and asset bubbles worldwide. A global economic crisis is not a question of if, but when. And with the world economy suffering from worsening bipolar disorder, traditional “remedies” and “stimuli” may no longer be effective. Structural reform is urgently needed.

Wall Street Bubbles – Same Old Story

Now that we understand the problem, let’s talk about Bitcoin.

Bitcoin represents a profound conceptual shift in how we perceive money. It’s a network built from a blend of technologies, with a digital currency at its core. This currency is distributed as a reward in a competitive process where miners validate transactions and secure the network—all in service of decentralization.

Unlike the centralized governance architecture described earlier—opaque, top-down, and manipulative—Bitcoin’s decentralized structure establishes a flat decision-making system where every participant is equal and no one can change the rules in their favor. Bitcoin stems from a worldview that promotes minimal government interference in both society and the economy. It was designed to be a global digital currency not bound by any single nation or authority, with no single point of failure.

It is highly secure, user-controlled, censorship-resistant, and deflationary by design. But Bitcoin hasn’t yet revolutionized the world order—it still faces many challenges that could fill a Talmudic volume.

Its learning curve is steep, long, and confusing to the average person. It puts full responsibility on individuals to secure their funds and offers little forgiveness for errors or loss of privacy. Bitcoin isn’t a product of the existing financial system, and its interaction with regulation—money laundering, sanctions, taxation—is still evolving.

Yet unlike traditional money, Bitcoin is programmable. Improvements don’t come by decree from above—they are suggested from below, reviewed through peer consensus, and only adopted through broad agreement. Many such upgrades have already been successfully implemented since Bitcoin’s genesis block, with more on the way.

In this sense, Bitcoin remains an ongoing socio-economic experiment. It’s too early to define its permanent role in the global economy, but even now we see it shaping the future of money in the digital age and playing a growing role in geopolitical arenas—from mining debates to sanctions enforcement.

Much has also been said about deflationary economies: that they stifle consumption, limit credit and liquidity, and lead to recession and unemployment. But on the flip side, they encourage saving, discourage debt-fueled waste, and may prevent the growth of a junk economy that harms us and our environment.

Edward Bernays, the father of PR, learned from his uncle Sigmund Freud that the masses are driven by unconscious impulses. He believed collective perception could be engineered to support mass production and channel public desire (and resources) into consumerism. His services were warmly embraced by corporations and politicians, helping them manufacture beliefs, opinions, and imagined needs—tightening their grip on power.

The economic-social structure that emerged from the American empire rippled across continents and became the dominant work-consumption narrative. The public internalized it through post-rationalization. The dark consequences of Bernays’ propaganda philosophy are baked into modern life—but the U.S., once an unrivaled empire, is no longer perceived that way.

Global trust in the banking system is eroding—among citizens and leaders alike—many of whom seek to challenge the supremacy of the U.S. and the dollar. Initiatives like BRICS may seem innovative, but they’re just old ideas in new packaging. Amid all this, Bitcoin stands out as a new voice—if it can prove its worth as a store of value and medium of exchange over time.

The COVID Crisis

In March 2020, as the world shut down due to COVID-19, something remarkable happened in financial markets. Initially, markets crashed—as expected—reflecting the halt in global economic activity. But soon after, the U.S. government (followed by others) began printing unprecedented amounts of money to “stimulate the economy.” Trillions of dollars entered the system, much of it finding its way into capital markets. While economies were paralyzed and inflation soared, markets reached record highs.

It’s estimated that around 40% of all U.S. dollars in circulation were printed during 2020–2021 alone—a staggering figure. As any economics textbook teaches: printing money leads to inflation, which in turn requires raising interest rates. That’s exactly what happened.

The result? Devaluation of currency, higher loan costs, bankruptcies, reduced consumption, and stalled growth. The economy entered a stagflation-like state. With few tools left, central banks are left with little choice but to eventually lower rates again and restart the printing press.

Let’s return to March 2020. Bitcoin plummeted alongside traditional markets, reaching around $3,000. But soon after, it not only recovered—it soared, eventually breaking $60,000 in 2021. Suddenly, Bitcoin was everywhere. Institutions that once dismissed it started to pay attention. Regulation tightened and clarified. Bitcoin ETFs were approved in early 2024.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, COVID vaccine protests erupted in Canada. Regardless of one’s stance on the pandemic or the policies surrounding it, we must affirm our right to bodily autonomy and peaceful protest. Canada, a liberal democracy, showed little tolerance for these protesters and tried to cut off their financial support—until they turned to Bitcoin. It allowed them to maintain freedom of speech, association, and protest.

These two pandemic-era stories reflect the broader story of Bitcoin: an open-source protocol, not owned or controlled by anyone, existing simply for those who choose to use it—whether individuals shut out by the financial system or institutions seeking exposure. Bitcoin doesn’t care. It doesn’t know who is using it or why. It just is—unstoppable, resilient, and waiting for the day you might join in.

Crises Never End

For many, COVID-19 marked a new era in the global-digital age. Whether it was a true turning point or just another chapter in human history, it certainly created fertile ground for instability—conflicts, economic collapses, and wars erupting worldwide.

Early 2020s have been defined by crises—in Argentina, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lebanon—all suffering inflation, shortages, and systemic collapse. The Russia-Ukraine war, Israel’s “Iron Swords” conflict, civil wars in Sudan and Ethiopia, the fall of Afghanistan, a coup in Myanmar, unrest in Kazakhstan, and conflict in Nigeria are only part of the global picture.

Throughout these crises, Bitcoin has shown a pattern: demand increases during times of instability. It’s more than just a digital currency—in real crises, it becomes a hedge against inflation and authoritarian regimes. Not only for individuals, but also for countries like Russia or Iran under economic sanctions. Like it or not—Bitcoin works for them too.

This is why Bitcoin’s importance during crises lies not only in the freedom it offers but in the need to preserve and transfer value in an uncertain digital age.

Conclusion

The Bitcoin revolution is not some utopian chapter in a mystical Japanese novel—it’s a significant part of a global historical process connecting people and systems across the world. In an era of eroding trust in governments and institutions, when crises can change everything overnight, Bitcoin offers more than just an economic alternative—it delivers a fundamental message:

The value of money begins with public trust—not institutional power.

We may be witnessing the rise of a new economy poised to replace the old. If we fail to recognize this shift, we risk paying the price for our inaction. As our worldview evolves, we must understand Bitcoin not just as a financial tool, but as a liberating force challenging traditional structures, reminding the world that change begins not only with matter—but, above all, with the heart.

The greatest show on Earth is underway.The question is—who will play the lead role?