𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱 – 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿
By now, you’ve likely heard about Pump.fun‘s notorious live-streaming feature, which spiraled out of control and showcased some of humanity's worst behavior before being banned now.
Or perhaps you’ve come across the story of the infamous banana duct-taped to a wall, originally priced at $120,000, which recently sold as a piece of art for an astonishing $6.2 million. The buyer? None other than His Excellency, Liberland’s Prime Minister, Justin Sun.
So, in the midst of this bull run you are questioning “our” industry’s assumptions again. 𝗪𝗵𝘆? 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?
Well, let me tell you why all of this is happening by turning to the chad philosopher himself, Friedrich Nietzsche!
In 1882, the German philosopher famously declared, “God is dead!” This bold assertion captured the spirit of an era that would shape the 20th century and beyond. God, a symbol of truth and stability that grounded humanity's moral values, was now absent. The God of the Bible, who declared, “I am the Lord, and I change not,” was pronounced dead by those he created. In The Gay Science (1882), Nietzsche elaborated:
“𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝐺𝑜𝑑? [...] 𝐼 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢! 𝑊𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 – 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼! 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠!”
The rise of science and reason ushered in a climate of relentless questioning, overturning beliefs that had been accepted for centuries. Western society, deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian principles, found itself shaken. As scientists proposed new theories about life, even the existence of God came under scrutiny. This shift had profound implications: without God, absolute truth seemed to vanish as well.
Through Nietzsche’s lens, the events of 1971, when national currencies were severed from the gold standard, appear as a logical extension of this worldview. Nietzsche observed that without God, humanity loses its anchor—a fixed measure of truth—and drifts aimlessly, lacking a compass. He vividly described this disorientation:
“𝐵𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠? 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠? 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑢𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑝𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑛? 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑜𝑤? 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑜𝑤? 𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑠? 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔? 𝐵𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠, 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑, 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠? 𝐼𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡? 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔?”
Unshackling currency from gold mirrored this philosophical "murder of God." Once God was removed as the arbiter of spiritual truth, it was perhaps inevitable that the economic realm would follow suit. Without a single, immutable source of value in life, why should there be one in money? Why should society remain bound by gold—a metal beyond human manipulation—when it could instead create money over which it held complete control?
Nietzsche foresaw the profound consequences of such upheaval:
“𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑢𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑠? [...] 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡? 𝐼𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠? 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡?”
By abandoning gold as the foundation of monetary value, the financial system lost its anchor to any stable truth, committing the economic death of go(l)d.
Currency, now unmoored from gold, moves in every direction—backward, sideways, forward—leaving us uncertain of its trajectory. In this post-gold era, we are left to grapple with the consequences of a system adrift, mirroring the philosophical turmoil Nietzsche so prophetically described.
