Modern day Crypto brothers however are far cleverer than conquistadors. They not only seek to mine bitcoins by burning more energy than what it took to mine gold but have also succeeded in capturing the imperial apparatus of a modern-day American kingdom, which calls itself “The United States of America”.
It is a stunning success for the Cryptadors. In the initial days, they projected themselves as rebellious pioneers, tearing down the old financial order in the name of decentralisation and financial freedom. They promised a new world order, free from the clutches of corrupt and inefficient central banks, which conspired to keep the masses in poverty and waged a relentless crusade against traditional banking.
In reality, many of them were just running the world’s longest-running casino—one where the house always wins, and unsuspecting players were left footing the bill. Their utopian vision conveniently ignored the real-world complexities that keep financial systems functional — regulatory oversight, consumer protection, and economic stability. Instead of democratising finance, they created closed circles of hype and speculation, where the loudest voices pump unregulated assets before quietly cashing out, leaving the average joes to watch their savings vanish overnight.
The very regulations they sneered at exist to prevent the kind of disasters that crypto markets experience with alarming regularity. FTX, Celsius, Terra-LUNA—each hailed as the future, each now a cautionary tale. Their revolution was even worser than the Spanish price revolution as it took far lesser than 2 centuries to collapse in a revolving door of insider deals, and plain thievery. Every time regulators try to rein in the chaos, they cried foul, wrapping themselves in libertarian rhetoric while conveniently ignoring the real-world consequences of their actions.
They also spent astronomical sums of money buying influence in corridors of power to overturn not just regulations, but to dissolve entire regulatory agencies, which they viewed as impediments to their final solution to the tyranny of modern life – The nation state itself.
For years, the Cryptadors have fantasised about scrapping governments and replacing them with their own blockchain fiefdoms—where the wealthy set the rules, regulators don’t exist, and taxes are just a quaint memory from a time when the rich still had to pretend to contribute. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has spent years lobbying for a world where ‘network states’ replace nation-states—a world where governance isn’t determined by democratic institutions, but by who holds the most tokens. A world where taxation becomes voluntary (read: non-existent), regulations are dictated by corporate boards, and citizenship is a matter of buying into the right blockchain, and the new ruling class isn’t accountable to voters, only to venture capitalists.
And Emperor Trump has even exceeded the colossal stupidity of Emperor Motecuhzoma of the Aztecs, who granted entry to the conquistadors to his kingdom, showering them with golden gifts and losing his kingdom to them shortly thereafter. By making cryptocurrencies part of the strategic reserves, his move confirms the trend line belief of the Cryptadors that one day all nation state currencies would be subsumed by their digital tokens.
The Cryptadors dream of replacing sovereign currencies with their own tokens, much like the Spanish Conquistadors used gold to plunder entire civilisations. Look at El Salvador—hailed as a Bitcoin success story but left deeper in economic turmoil. Given the primacy of Emperor Trump and American Kingdom, they believe that it will create a domino effect and would also force other nation states to follow suit. But they underestimate the last line of defence—nations like India, whose regulators see through this neocolonial scheme.
While the US bends to crypto lobbyists, the RBI stands firm, warning of its risks—capital flight, financial instability, and outright fraud. India’s heavy crypto taxation and push for the digital rupee aren’t red tape or boring bureaucracy. They have been shields against economic and digital colonisation. Unlike the West, where financial elites sway between greed and regulatory capture, India refuses to let private capitalists and digital casinos dictate its future.
Only one thing stands in their way – There exists still other nation states and regulators who understand embracing cryptadors would wreck their own civilisations. The battle is clear: either financial anarchy prevails, reducing nation-states to network states controlled by digital oligarchs, or regulators like the RBI hold firm, ensuring economic destiny remains in the hands of nations—not token whales.
—The authors; Dr. Srinath Sridharan ( @ssmumbai), is a Corporate advisor & Independent Director on Corporate Boards, and Anand Venkatanarayanan, is co-founder and CTO, at DeepStrat. The views expressed are personal.
(Edited by : Unnikrishnan)
