Discussion
I see Bitcoin as one of the many glitches in the illusory matrix that tries to keep us playing the game by their rules.
In computer games, a glitch is an anomaly that results in unintended outcomes. Imagine a crate in a certain location that when stood upon in certain position allows you to jump above the map. In this position you elevate yourself above the game map where everything is transparent. Walls appear no longer solid & every other player can easily be seen. To take advantage of this glitch is considered cheating because you've gained an unfair advantage. The player who uses a glitch is however still abiding by the rules (code) of the simulation. They're not altering the code or using additional code, they're just exploiting a weakness in the simulation.
I find the idea of a computer simulation pretty ironic now. I haven't played computer games for over a decade but for a period I was captured in their illusion. A simulation within a simulation, within a simulation. How interesting that we've developed simulations to escape the pain & imposed rules of another simulation. Like everything in this reality, they were not without purpose.
Bitcoin is on its superficial surface, just a speculative asset. Something to be scorned by those that don't understand it. It's a bubble that seemingly can't be popped & it drives the haters crazy, just by existing. It has no value other than the value placed on it by it's believers. Yet this glitch can't be stopped, it exists within the rules of this realm. It elevates the power of the individual to simply exist without requiring permission from the controllers. Through it's existence it points to the actual laws of this reality rather than those layered on top of it by men.
I resonate with what you are saying but I see glitches in a slightly different way. I see them as as tools to be used to avoid the artificial rules that are imposed on sovereign souls. In the end we escape the man made simulation, not by fighting it but by going around it, by making it redundant.
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I appreciate your perspective on glitches as tools within a system, particularly the way you describe video game exploits—how they allow players to bypass artificial constraints while still technically playing by the rules of the simulation. While I’ve never played video games, I understand the metaphor: stepping outside the map to see the entire structure of the game, while still operating within its coded parameters.
Where I see the difference is that my concept of the glitch isn’t about exploiting the system—it’s about perceiving that the system itself is not what we thought it was. It’s not a trick or a cheat; it’s the moment when the veil drops, when we stop believing in the structure that has shaped our reality.
For me, the glitch is not about getting an edge over the game—it’s about realizing that what we thought was solid, fixed, and unquestionable was never real in the first place. It’s about waking up to the illusion itself.
And this shift happens differently depending on when you were born, how you were conditioned, and what belief systems shaped you. As a Gen X, I was raised with the assumption that the world functioned in a certain way—that government institutions, the economy, money, and even social hierarchies were real, immutable structures. But over the last 10–15 years, I’ve watched those assumptions dissolve. The more I’ve questioned, the more I’ve seen that we were playing a game without knowing we were playing.
I also resonate with your take on Bitcoin. I question everything—including Bitcoin—not out of skepticism, but because everything should be open to questioning. Bitcoin exists because we give it value. It is a glitch in the financial system, yes, but what if it itself is part of another simulation? What if its existence still abides by hidden rules we don’t yet see? That possibility doesn’t scare me—it excites me. Because seeing is the point.
So, while I see glitches as a way to step outside the imposed rules, for me, the ultimate question is not how we use them, but what happens when we stop playing entirely. Not by breaking the game, not by hacking it, but by recognizing that it was never real to begin with.
I'm a genX too but only just. I have experienced being a millennial, as a genX (born on the cusp). 🫂
Maybe "3rd Page" would be a better metaphor for what I'm talking about.
Ross Stevens did an excellent job of describing it in his letter to investors.
Worth a quick read (you don't need to read it all). I found it insightful & encouraging.
Stone Ridge 2024 Shareholder Letter
Author: Ross Stevens
Format: Annual report (18 pgs)
Thanks I will give it a read