Bitcoin and The Sovereign Individual: A Blueprint for the Future

In 1997, James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg published The Sovereign Individual, a prophetic book that foresaw a radical shift in power driven by technology. They argued that the Information Revolution would dismantle industrial-age hierarchies, unshackle individuals from centralized control, and create a new class of "sovereign individuals"—people whose wealth, skills, and mobility would make them untouchable by traditional authorities. Fast forward to today, and Bitcoin emerges as a near-perfect embodiment of their vision. It’s not just a currency; it’s a tool that accelerates the book’s predictions, aligning with its core ideas about jurisdiction, wealth, and freedom.

The Microprocessing Revolution Meets the Blockchain

Davidson and Rees-Mogg pinned their thesis on the microprocessing revolution—the idea that cheap, ubiquitous computing would decentralize power. They saw it eroding the monopoly of nation-states, letting individuals bypass bloated bureaucracies. Bitcoin, born in 2009, rides this wave. Its blockchain—a decentralized ledger powered by countless nodes—mirrors their prediction of systems too distributed to control. No central bank, no government, no single point of failure. Just code, running on computers worldwide.

This aligns with their view of technology as a liberator. Where they imagined digital tools fracturing old power structures, Bitcoin delivers a concrete example: a monetary system that doesn’t need permission from a state or bank. It’s microprocessing made tangible, shifting financial sovereignty from institutions to individuals.

Jurisdiction Shopping in a Borderless World

One of The Sovereign Individual’s boldest claims was "jurisdiction shopping"—the idea that people would use technology to pick and choose where their economic lives play out, dodging oppressive regimes or high taxes. Bitcoin turns this into reality. With a private key, you hold wealth that isn’t tied to any country’s rules. Send it across borders in seconds, no customs agent or wire fee required. Freeze your account? Good luck—there’s no account to freeze.

The authors foresaw a world where mobility of capital would force governments to compete for citizens, not trap them. Bitcoin amplifies this. A tyrant can’t seize your coins unless they crack your cryptography—an arms race tilted toward the individual. As more people hold Bitcoin, states lose their old leverage: control over money flows. It’s jurisdiction shopping on steroids, just as Rees-Mogg and Davidson predicted.

Wealth Beyond Coercion

The book argues that in the Information Age, wealth would shift from physical assets (land, factories) to intangible ones (knowledge, digital systems), making it harder for governments to tax or confiscate. Bitcoin fits this like a glove. It’s not a gold bar you can raid or a bank vault you can storm—it’s a string of code, secured by math. The "sovereign individual" they describe, who protects wealth through skill and strategy, finds a natural ally in Bitcoin’s design.

This also ties to their point about coercion’s decline. Industrial states relied on taxing fixed, visible resources. But when wealth lives in a decentralized blockchain, taxable only if you choose to reveal it, the old stick of enforcement dulls. Bitcoin holders aren’t invincible, but they’re 12 words are. Making them, exactly the kind of economic nomads the authors envisioned.

The End of the Nation-State Monopoly

Davidson and Rees-Mogg saw the nation-state’s dominance fading as technology empowered individuals to opt out. Bitcoin strikes at a key pillar of that dominance: money. Fiat currency gave governments a monopoly on value—print it, inflate it, control it. Bitcoin breaks that. Its fixed supply (21 million coins) and decentralized governance mean no one can devalue it on a whim. The authors’ prediction of "competing sovereignties"—where private systems rival state power—plays out as Bitcoin challenges central banks head-on.

They also warned of pushback. States, losing their grip, would fight to retain control. We see it now: bans in China, on and off ramp restrictions in the U.S. But as The Sovereign Individual suggests, resistance often backfires, proving the system’s fragility. Bitcoin’s resilience—thriving despite crackdowns—echoes their belief that technology tips the scales toward the agile and adaptive.

A New Elite, A New Freedom

The book’s "sovereign individual" isn’t everyone—it’s an elite who master the new tools. Bitcoin fits this, too. Early adopters, "We Are So Early", miners, and hodlers aren’t the masses; they’re a vanguard, leveraging a system that rewards foresight and technical savvy. Over time, though, its reach could widen, aligning with the authors’ broader hope: a world where more people escape dependency on failing institutions.

That’s the kicker. Bitcoin doesn’t just match The Sovereign Individual’s mechanics—it embodies its spirit. It’s a rebellion against centralized power, a bet on individual agency, and a glimpse of a future where sovereignty isn’t granted by a flag, but claimed through code. Davidson and Rees-Mogg didn’t name Bitcoin—they couldn’t have—but they described its DNA decades ahead of schedule.

The Road Ahead

Bitcoin’s not the whole story—The Sovereign Individual spans beyond currency to culture, politics, and beyond. But as a financial cornerstone, it’s a catalyst for the book’s revolution. It hands people the tools to live as sovereigns: mobile, only paying taxes to jurisdictions that share their same values. The authors saw a world coming where power flows to those who seize it. Bitcoin’s rise suggests they were right—and the fight’s just beginning.