The Blind Spot of the Professional Establishment

Over the past years I had countless conversations with acquaintances from work about the state of the economy and the geopolitical challenges we are increasingly faced with. Whenever the topic of Bitcoin came up in this context, I saw different reactions, some more and others less informed. What they had in common was a state of complacency.

Yet while they have been busy ignoring it, Bitcoin has quietly evolved into something far more significant — digital capital.

This shift is not about Bitcoin’s price movements or its ability to hedge against inflation. It is about a fundamental transformation in how value is stored, transferred, and secured in a world shaped by technology, geopolitics, and decentralization.

The industrial establishment vastly underestimates Bitcoin’s future significance.

Can they afford to?

Bitcoin as Digital Capital

Traditional capital has always been tied to institutions — banks, stock markets, regulatory bodies. Ownership has meant reliance on intermediaries, trust in third parties, and acceptance of restrictions, whether through capital controls, monetary policy, or systemic risk. Bitcoin braeks that paradigm. It is sovereign, liquid, and borderless. It does not require permission. It does not rely on institutional gatekeepers.

The implications are profound. Take the case of Argentina, where annual inflation exceeded 200% in 2023. The peso became worthless so quickly that businesses began pricing goods in US dollars, and the black market for hard currency exploded. Those who had access to Bitcoin avoided the worst of the debasement, moving their savings into a deflationary asset that the government could not touch.

Unlike the state-controlled banking system, Bitcoin offers a lifeline — an alternative that cannot be frozen, censored, or manipulated by those in power. Bitcoin is not just an investment, a commodity, or a payment network.

It is all of these and more — a pristine form of collateral, a decentralized settlement layer, and the first truly global, censorship-resistant asset. Unlike traditional capital, it is not subject to counterparty risk, banking failures, or government mismanagement. It functions outside of the system but is increasingly forcing its way into it.

Many professionals fail to see whta this really means. Bitcoin is not just a new asset class — it is an entirely new way to conceptualize ownership and financial power.

Momentum is Building — Will the Industrial Establishment Notice?

Despite overwhelming evidence of Bitcoin’s adoption and growing importance, most professionals still dismiss it. Bankers, regulators, corporate executives, and even traditional investors continue to view it as something outside their domain — a curiosity, a speculative instrument, an anomaly.

They are wrong.

Bitcoin is not just surviving; it is thriving. It is being integrated into balance sheets, investment strategies, and macroeconomic debates. Institutions that once mocked it are now trying to front-run its adoption.

Consider BlackRock. The world’s largest asset manager, whose CEO, Larry Fink, once called Bitcoin an instrument for money laundering, is now spearheading one of the most successful Bitcoin ETFs.

Fidelity, another behemoth in traditional finance, is offering direct Bitcoin exposure to clients. Sovereign wealth funds and pension funds — which once saw Bitcoin as too risky — are now quietly allocating capital to it, hedging against what they increasingly recognize as an inevitable monetary shift.

Even central banks (most recently the Czech central bank), despite their public dismissals, are taking note — because they have no choice. Bitcoin is forcing them to.

The Industrial Class: Too Close to Government to See the Shift?

And here is the unsettling question: has the professional class become too embedded in the entrenched financial system to acknowledge change? Have they become so accustomed to extracting fees, benefiting from regulatory capture, and navigating institutional frameworks that they are incapable of recognizing an emerging financial order?

For decades, finance, law, and corporate strategy have revolved around regulatory advantage, insider access, and the ability to extract value from an opaque and inefficient system. Central banks backstop losses. Regulators create moats. Compliance frameworks, while necessary, often serve to entrench the incumbents rather than encourage innovation.

In such an environment, is it any surprise that free markets, entrepreneurship, and financial sovereignty have become foreign concepts? Bitcoin stands in direct opposition to this model. It does not rely on bailouts, government approvals, or institutional favors. It cannot be inflated away. It operates on open-source principles rather than closed-door negotiations.

This is precisely why so many professionals struggle to take it seriously — it disrupts the very system they have built their careers around.

And now there are two challenges: AI replacing our brains and jobs, and Bitcoin reshaping our financial framework.

The Question Professionals Must Ask Themselves

The professionals who make up today’s industrial establishment need to ask themselves a simple question: can they afford to ignore this?

Dismissal is no longer an intellectually defensible position. Bitcoin’s adoption is accelerating, its infrastructure is maturing, and its role in financial markets is expanding. Clients, competitors, and markets are taking it seriously. Those who refuse to engage with it are making a choice — a choice to remain blind to one of the most important shifts in financial history.

Can anyone afford to ignore an asset that has outperformed everything else over the last decade? Can they afford not to explore the implications of a financial system where digital capital competes with, and potentially replaces, traditional capital?

Bitcoin’s quiet transformation is no longer theoretical — it is happening now.

That's it for the wake-up call. Will you push the snooze button once more or get up and meet me for a coffee?