1. Introduction
For centuries, economic power has been projected through industrial capacity, tariffs, and control of trade routes. In the 20th century, nation-states escalated these tools into full-scale trade wars, using economic leverage to coerce adversaries without firing a shot. Today, we’re witnessing a resurgence of tariff talk, as governments scramble to respond to global supply chain vulnerabilities and rising geopolitical tensions.
But these conversations often miss the bigger picture. The world is changing. The rise of cyberspace, digital infrastructure, and decentralized technologies like Bitcoin has created a new playing field for power projection.
Jason Lowery, a U.S. Space Force officer and MIT fellow, introduces the concept of “Softwar”—a theory that Bitcoin functions as a novel form of non-violent, military-grade power projection. Understanding this framework reveals why Bitcoin is not merely an alternative asset or currency—it is a strategic defense tool in the information age.
2. Tariffs and Trade Wars: Old Tools of State Power
Tariffs are taxes imposed on imported goods to protect domestic industries or retaliate against foreign economic aggression. Trade wars occur when countries engage in cycles of retaliatory tariffs, aiming to damage each other’s economies.
In 2024 and 2025, we are seeing renewed enthusiasm for tariffs as a tool to counteract rising foreign competition and protect national industries. However, this renewed push often fails to recognize that these tools are relics of an industrial era. They are slow, blunt, and increasingly ineffective in a world where capital, data, and influence move digitally and globally.
Examples like the U.S.-China trade war showed how these tactics can backfire, causing inflation, supply chain disruption, and geopolitical instability. While they were once the pinnacle of economic warfare, they now feel outdated in a world where information travels at the speed of light and markets are increasingly decentralized.
3. The Rise of Information-Age Conflict
We’ve entered a new era of conflict. Physical warfare is being supplemented (and in many cases replaced) by cyberattacks, sanctions, disinformation, and financial surveillance. In this paradigm, power is less about controlling land and more about controlling code, infrastructure, and access to networks.
Economic control is exerted through centralized payment rails, surveillance systems, and financial sanctions. But these systems are brittle and susceptible to resistance through decentralized technologies.
4. What Is Softwar?
Softwar is a concept introduced by Jason Lowery in his book of the same name. He argues that Bitcoin is more than a currency or a payment system—it’s a digital tool for non-violent power projection.
Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism replaces the physical violence of war with energy expenditure and computation. In Lowery’s framing, miners compete in a digital battleground to secure the network. The result? A tamper-resistant, globally accessible ledger that no state can unilaterally control.
This makes Bitcoin a form of “digital territory,” where sovereignty is enforced through physics, not politics. As Lowery writes, “Bitcoin is a new kind of warfare, conducted not with bullets, but with watts.”
Read a full summary of Softwar here: btc-advisor.com summary
5. Bitcoin vs Trade Wars: A New Kind of Economic Warfare
Bitcoin renders many traditional tools of economic warfare obsolete. While tariffs and sanctions rely on coercion and central enforcement, Bitcoin is voluntary and rules-based.
- Tariffs are coercive; Bitcoin is voluntary. States can’t force Bitcoin to obey their policies.
- Trade wars are zero-sum; Bitcoin is open-access. Everyone can participate in the Bitcoin economy.
- Financial censorship is brittle; Bitcoin is censorship-resistant. No central bank can freeze or reverse Bitcoin transactions.
Rather than weaponizing goods or fiat, nation-states will increasingly compete for mining infrastructure, energy dominance, and monetary independence.
6. Strategic Implications
The geopolitical implications are profound:
- Nations may adopt Bitcoin defensively to protect against inflation, sanctions, or reserve currency collapse.
- Some may use Bitcoin offensively, mining aggressively or integrating it into sovereign wealth strategies.
- Hash power becomes a strategic asset, akin to aircraft carriers or nuclear capabilities.
This is a new kind of arms race, where energy, computation, and cryptography replace bullets, bombs, and tariffs.
7. Conclusion
We are witnessing the transition from industrial-age economic warfare to information-age power projection. Tariffs and trade wars are blunt instruments of the past. While policymakers may double down on these familiar tools today, they risk missing the broader transition already underway.
Bitcoin, as conceptualized in Softwar, offers a radically different model: one rooted in thermodynamic truth, decentralization, and voluntary consensus.
Bitcoin is not just money. It is peace through superior protocol. A non-violent weapon for a digital age.
And those who understand this shift early will be best positioned in the geopolitical landscape of tomorrow.
Credit: ChatGTP. Image: Copilot.
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