Bitcoin does the same thing for companies as it does for individuals: it gives them more freedom. In the wake of large public corporations adding bitcoin to their balance sheets[1], I want to explore the greater implication of companies adopting Bitcoin.
As companies adopt Bitcoin, they will begin to gain new levels of sovereignty and leverage over the state as well as amplify their ability to do commerce globally. Today, bitcoin is still an alternative treasury asset, but as larger and more powerful organizations begin to use Bitcoin directly, they will begin to tear away from the overreach of governments. This in and of itself will challenge the dynamics of governance and the nature of nation states as we currently know them.
In this article, I will break down the necessary tenants for a company to gain sovereignty with bitcoin today as well as explore what the “sovereign-company future” holds.
How To Establish The Sovereign-Company Future
Step one: Hold the treasury in bitcoin and unleash the purse with cold hard monetary energy.
Obviously in the cases of both Square and MicroStrategy[2], there were business reasons for converting portions of the balance sheet to bitcoin. However, it is not enough for a company to simply hold bitcoin for it to become a sovereign company.
For a company to truly become sovereign, it must run a full node and custody its own keys in a geographically-distributed manner.
Step two: Self-custody the bitcoin.
By custodying your own Bitcoin private keys, you take advantage of all of Bitcoin’s censorship and confiscation-resistance features. These features drastically bring down the cost for a company (or individual) to break away from a geography or jurisdiction with all of their value.
