United States of Bitcoin
States begin as stories. Before there are buildings, flags, or budgets, there is a shared narrative about who we hope to be, what we should expect from one another, and which rules merit our consent. The American story was spoken into being before it was built with Thomas Paine instilling “we have it in our power to begin the world over again,” a sonnet at the harbor promising a fresh start to the tired and poor, a public debate informing citizens factions would always arise and to control their effects and to bind power with words where ambition checks ambition. America’s pattern of inception is repeatable: people tell a story, that story hardens with consent into a written charter, constitution, and only then do the visible structures coalesce into institutions, law, and civic culture.
Bitcoin is a constitutional order written in code and sustained by consent. One protocol, many software states. State represents both government and software: in government, a constitution that converts consent into authority, in software, the live version of a program, the rules and data we abide by. Because constitutions begin as stories, not structures, definitions come first. They decide whether effort compounds or is diluted, whether property is possessed or permissioned, whether terms can shift under our feet mid-game. Bitcoin doesn’t abolish tyranny or end politics. Bitcoin shifts incentives so good behavior scales and rent-seeking flames out, it honors effort by refusing debasement, it stabilizes meanings so rules don’t decay into favors. Because the rulebook is public, any citizen can verify a claim without a gatekeeper. Satoshi set this path in motion, millions have chosen to walk it, and billions will follow. Bitcoin’s hope endures because it is simple: with better rules, ordinary people can trade tyrannies for tools and in the spirit of Thomas Paine, begin again.
Every release of bitcoin core and every compatible implementation like bitcoin knots, libbitcoin, or btcd is a software state. Some citizens upgrade early or not at all, while others wait. Defaults vary and tooling differs. Yet the federation holds because the constitutional core is a shared set of rules that make a transaction valid. Upgrades add clarity, utility, and constraints. They are proposed in public, adopted voluntarily, and enforced at the edges by those who consent to that specific state. No single authority decides for the rest. A growing number of nodes, the local courthouses of this union, adjudicate the valid and reject the invalid blocks, regardless of who mined it or the self-serving views of any given constituency. That is federalism without a map. One charter with many states all interoperating in a single union.
When a story like this is believed, it unlocks humanity’s shackled past. The words entice those willing to venture for a better tomorrow to where freedom to transact is born and then thrives. The new federal union needs bridges and markets where people interact, and the most valuable builders are the ones who translate constitutional hope into daily use. Companies like Mempool.Space show how radical transparency becomes a civic utility. Anyone can search historical transactions and confirmed blocks, estimate fees, see the auction queue for scarce blockspace, and accelerate their transaction when needed. Their purpose isn’t theater, but to create a space for open auditability that safeguards the fairness of the rules themselves. Ten31 proudly partners with Mempool.Space because a more visible state is a trustworthy state and trust builds as verification compounds. A story that can be seen is a story that can be more easily shared.
Access is the next chapter. A union is only as strong as its ports and roads. Strike is building one such network of cyber-roads, a global bridge to bitcoin financial services where bitcoin’s growing population can earn and borrow in local currency, move through bitcoin’s rule-bounded rails, and settle often in a different currency while curbing the influence of excessive middle men siphoning off value. The promise is not volatility-free comfort, it is clarity. A path where value does not fade mid-route. Ten31 partners with Strike because bridges empower citizens with choices, not confinement. Access is how a constitution creates a market.
Households need a way to make the story their own. Fold meets people where they live today and not just where they are going. Familiar consumer products convert what would be ephemeral points into sats, turning rewards into savings that don’t wither with policy drift or corporate edict. The interface stays simple; the connection gets stronger. Ten31’s partnership with Fold is because confidence scales when ordinary families can store the fruits of their work in a unit that does not quietly leak. Households are where constitutions ultimately succeed or fail and the personal balance sheet matters in order to drive success.
The United States of Bitcoin, our running versions and diverse implementations, do not erase disagreement. They channel it into voluntary coordination. The bridges and markets do not guarantee easy times. They guarantee clearly defined rules and access points for those to freely enter. The citizens who freely choose to enter or exit are the shopkeepers and students, refugees and retirees, founders and families. People for whom the phrase “begin again” is not a slogan but a seed of hope. Ten31 exists to help access to bitcoin become ordinary. We back builders who make the software state legible (you can see it), accessible (you can reach it), and livable (you can use it without excessive friction). If you want in: educate yourself, acquire some bitcoin, use tools focused on bitcoin, support the builders who work tirelessly for the cause. Bitcoin is here and its global adoption moves forward relentlessly every 10 minutes: tick-tock next block. Between those motions is a freedom sturdy enough for families and ambitious enough for us all. The story is just starting and your authorship is waiting. Like Thomas Paine and the Founders, with the pen in our hands, it's time to begin again.