We have been brought to a point where it has become necessary to dissolve the bond between currency and institution. We are not required to declare the causes which impel us to push for the separation, but we will oblige.We hold these truths to be self-evident. We have been cyclically betrayed, lied to, stolen from, extorted from, taxed, monopolized, spied on, inspected, assessed, authorized, registered, deceived, and reformed. We have been economically disarmed, disabled, held hostage, impoverished, enervated, exhausted, and enslaved. And then there was bitcoin.But we are in an age of appropriation, and nothing is immune. Today bitcoin is not only volatile in its value, but in its very essence. Bitcoin is in the crucial stages of development. Its code can evolve in several directions. It’s under threat from those who don’t understand it; it’s under threat from those who do understand it, but fear it.The crusade to absorb bitcoin into the seams of the State has begun. There is a conscious effort to co-opt. The goal is to swallow bitcoin, process it, integrate it, devolve it, and keep it stagnant in the gears of a failed operating system. Bitcoin’s potential is being hijacked. They have their own idea of what they want bitcoin to be. They have their own plan for its potential, and they have an investment in that plan. But our consent is withdrawn and the power of our ideas is too strong.Do not underestimate DNA; nothing is born completely neutral. Follow the protocol: it has anarchistic implications. Bitcoin is inherently anti-establishment, anti-system, and anti-state. Bitcoin undermines governments and disrupts institutions because bitcoin is fundamentally humanitarian. There’s an elimination of 3rd party intrusion. It’s purely peer-to-peer. The blockchain is free speech. It’s decentralized, voluntary, and non-aggressive. Bitcoin is not supposed to work within our current mechanisms. Bitcoin needs not entities of authority to acknowledge it, incorporate it, regulate it, and tax it. Bitcoin does not pander to power structures, it undermines them.Bitcoin is an animal of anonymity. Bitcoin basks in shadow. Satoshi’s facelessness is symbolic of this. Privacy is the point. Bitcoin is meant to function outside of regulatory systems. It is not a cog.Bitcoin means to channel economic power directly through the individual. This is reflected by Satoshi’s symbolic birthday, which falls on the same day that Roosevelt signed the 6102 Executive Order, which forbade the hoarding of gold. We repeat. Bitcoin is not intended to be integrated; it’s intended to be a ghost outside the machine.The voices of the people who are working to preserve the purity of bitcoin’s ethos are being drowned out. But actions speak louder than words. Bitcoin is utility. The cypherpunks are building anonymous systems. The crypto-anarchists are making institutions arbitrary. The internet is anarchy. And cryptocurrencies are the printless fingers of the internet.Bitcoin is not just a currency, a commodity, or a convenience. Just like the internet gave information back to the people, Bitcoin will give financial freedom back to the people. But that’s only the first step. There will be a shift in the structure of enterprise, in the way we interact, in the way we voice our opinions, and in the way we fuel our action. Bitcoin will allow us to shape the world without having to ask for permission. We declare bitcoin’s independence. Bitcoin is sovereignty. Bitcoin is renaissance. Bitcoin is ours. Bitcoin is.This post has been translated to Dutch as well.