According to **Balaji Srinivasan, former Coinbase CTO and The Network State author, cryptocurrency was created as traditional institutions falter in order to create a “code-based order” of Bitcoin, framing blockchain as the backbone of ‘new global system’. ** **
Crypto as Global Lifeboat? Balaji Srinivasan Makes the Case on X
X this weekend, the Silicon Valley investor and founder of his case revealed in an interview with one user who asked “what is real-world value beyond speculation” that crypto was worth. Instead of ignoring the criticism, The Network State author wrote it back and delivered an extensive answer that refutes digital assets as infrastructure for a borderless economic system.
The purpose of crypto is to create a code-based order, because the rules-related order is unfortunately collapsing,’ Srinivasianan wrote. His argument was that ” blockchain networks can replicate and even improve upon protections traditionally handled by international law, such as property rights, contractual enforcement and identity verification.”
He said ‘The code-based order “guarantees property rights, smart contracts, rule-of-code, privacy, secure voting and user accounts across borders” adding that even ‘in the face of debanking and denaturalization’ people still retain their own onchain currency and on chain identity. – ’.
The crypto networks are fueled in part by financial speculation, Srinivasan admitted “It is like saying that they’re state lotteries,” and the network was also heavily funded. “Lotteries fund states”. The parallel between public finance and blockchain ecosystems was drawn in his writing, he wrote that lotteryteries also fund networks.
His more general question, he said, is whether society gets something better for the money. As nationalism and socialism grow in parts of the world, blockchain maintains open participation in global markets that allows people to transact without regard to “race, religion or accent” or ancestry, “or other likely irrelevant attributes.” Paraphrasingr ’It is.
His squabbling argument goes beyond money, . In response to a critic who said that “the legal system and courts of real-world assets still depend on physical property” Srinivasan pointed to new technologies like smart locks and cryptographic access controls.
If we have smart locks, we can extend cryptographic property rights to anything secured by a door. We can extend it further, he said, using the cryptographic keys for robots and drones.’ He quotes an essay written in July 2025 that a writer called “All Property Becomes Cryptography”. – ’.
That article, Srinivasan wrote a multilayered thesis in that article. He began his online business with the statement, “the value of digital gold is secured onchain” and that ownership of bitcoin globally verifiable. he said, from there, that legal clarity around stablecoins “allows the way for tokenized stocks, bonds and other financial instruments.”
The following step is physical infrastructure homes unlocked by token verification, vehicles that are based on digital signatures and capital equipment secured through blockchain-based control systems, according to he wrote. His statement was ‘It makes all property cryptography, claiming that public blockchains provide a stronger backend than traditional institutions which are often breached.
That dream, however, is expansive and unapologetically ambitious. In Srinivasan’s view, as Western institutions strain and Eastern states consolidate power, blockchain offers a third avenue – i.e. an internet-based, neutral framework for property and identity?
His writings were titled “That’s what cryptocurrency was created to be that”. When and when your state fails, or turns against you, the Internet will be there for You.” Whether that thesis is mainstream policy or remains a high-conviction bet from crypto’s intellectual wing, it adds another layer to the ongoing debate over what digital assets are actually for sale.
FAQ ❓
- What did Balaji Srinivasan say about crypto?
He said crypto’s purpose is to build a “code-based order” that protects property and identity through blockchain technology. - What is a code-based order?
It is a system where rules, contracts and ownership are enforced by software and cryptography rather than courts and governments. - How does this apply to physical property?
Srinivasan argues that smart locks and cryptographic keys could extend blockchain-based control to homes, vehicles and equipment. - Why is this debate significant now?
It comes as critics question crypto’s real-world utility beyond speculation, prompting renewed discussion about blockchain’s long-term role.
Thanks for reading Balaji Srinivasan Says Crypto Is the Code-Based Order for a Fracturing World
