This article explores the governance structure of Bitcoin and draws parallels to the social behavior of wolf packs. There is an argument that Bitcoin's self-governance system is sound and that its competition-based approach fosters collaboration.

The Wisdom of Wolves

Long ago, mighty empires such as the Romans, Turks, and Mongolians owed much of their financial, social, and military strength to the wisdom of wolves. How so? In the Roman foundation myth, it was a she-wolf that nursed and sheltered the twins Romulus and Remus after they were abandoned in the wild by order of King Amulius of Alba Longa. She cared for the infants at her den, a cave known as the Lupercal, until they were discovered by a shepherd, Faustulus. Romulus would later become the founder and first king of Rome.

From the Mongolian side — in the book, The Secret History of the Mongols, the Mongol peoples are said to have descended from the mating of a doe (gua maral) and a wolf (boerte chino). In modern Mongolia, the wolf is still seen as a good luck symbol, especially for males. In Mongolian folk medicine, eating the intestines of a wolf is said to alleviate chronic indigestion, while sprinkling food with powdered wolf rectum is said to cure hemorrhoids.

Mongol mythology explains the wolf’s occasional habit of surplus killing by pointing to their traditional creation story. It states that when God explained to the wolf what it should and should not eat, he told it that it may eat one sheep out of 1,000. The wolf however misunderstood and thought God said kill 1,000 sheep and eat one.

Bitcoin's Governance Structure

Bitcoin is inspired by nature, just like past empires were. From Small World Network design to the non-reliance of any one leader. Competition vs. Collaboration: Two Sides of the Same Coin Bitcoin’s self-governance system is sound – through competition, paradoxically, all parties learn how to cooperate and collaborate (as you see with the self-organization of pools and miners for the Bitcoin-BCH #HashWars): The strength of individuals is the strength of factions. The strength of factions provides strength to the individual.

Misunderstandings and Half-Truths

Over time, people misunderstood the governing structure of wolf packs, much like people misunderstood Bitcoin over the first decade (perhaps Satoshi is responsible for that, having disappeared for a while). When the average person thinks of wolf packs, they may think of vicious, alpha-driven hierarchical groups. Unfortunately, that isn’t the whole truth. Some would say their form of governance is more meritocratic, which has also been echoed in the Bitcoin world. Wolf packs are neither democracies nor dictatorships. It is only during hunts that hierarchies provide a purpose (coordinated action) but, outside of that, the hierarchy breaks apart.

Conclusion

In my opinion, this is what happened to Bitcoin. Sure, one could argue that our world is filled with many species other than wolves. However, in the United States, wolves proved so pivotal to the ecosystem, it changed rivers. This is why I use wolves as an analogy in terms of what Bitcoin is doing to the world – it is changing the flow of [financial] rivers. It is harmonizing our global financial ecosystem. And with this shift in money itself – money being one of the key factors of how civilizations have evolved and/or operated – we may see an answer to the question, “if democracy has its flaws, what comes next?” Bitcoin will push that new governance solution forward, and it may not be democratic.