In the midst of the ongoing debate over the geopolitical implications of Bitcoin, a graduate thesis by U.S. Space Force major Jason Lowery has risen to the top of Amazon’s bestseller lists and categories. Surprisingly, the Bitcoin thesis has become the best-selling book on Amazon, surpassing even the most popular works of fiction.
Bitcoin concept makes it Amazon
A graduate thesis may not sound like a page-turner to many readers. However, a lengthy academic paper on Bitcoin written by a U.S. Space Force major has emerged as a popular Amazon pick.
“Softwar” asserts that Bitcoin has the potential to play a significant role on the world’s geopolitical stage as a military-grade solution for securing information—far different from the monetary use Bitcoin’s network currently has.
According to Lowrey’s brief description on Amazon, he advised several senior US executives on Bitcoin-related regulations in the President’s, Secretary of Defense’s, and Joint Chiefs of Staff’s offices.
The academic paper explains how he completed academic research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during a six-month fellowship supported by the Department of Defense. The paper’s title is “Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin.”
Even though Softwar does not rank among the top 500 books on Amazon, Lowery’s search of BTC has reached the top spot in Amazon’s virtual currencies category. It is currently ranked second in both technology and engineering books. The more than 350-page book draws on anthropology and computer science, among other disciplines, to establish and explore Lowery’s “Power Projection Theory.”
Effectively, Lowery explains how the proof-of-work system underlying BTC transaction verification can be used by military powers to impose restrictions on bad actors through a non-lethal but rigorous amount of physical labor under the guise of number crunching.
The bottom line is that Bitcoin could represent a ‘softwar’ or electro cyber-defense protocol, not merely a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. While most software can only logically constrain computers, Bitcoin can physically constrain computers.
Softwar by Jason Lowery
Softwar pays homage to BTC veterans
The book’s acknowledgments section recognizes some of BTC’s most ardent supporters, including MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and Peter McCormack.
Lowrey also writes in his paper that insufficient BTC reserves held on the US government’s behalf could threaten national security. This is if the network is used as a cyber-security tool.
According to him, if the country does not begin stockpiling strategic Bitcoin reserves or, at the very least, promote Bitcoin adoption, the US may have to abandon its position as an international power dominance.
If the U.S. does not consider stockpiling strategic Bitcoin reserves, or at the very least encouraging Bitcoin adoption. The U.S. could forfeit a strategically vital power […] and set itself back in global power dominance.
Softwar by Jason Lowery
However, given that Lowrey’s thesis was published in February and the US declared that it sold $215 million in confiscated Bitcoin last month, it appears that few Fed members are paying attention to his hypothesis.
The book also includes a disclaimer stating that the paper does not represent any official position of the DoD, Air Force, or MIT. Most of the more than 200 Amazon reviews for “Softwar” gave the book five stars.
However, some reviews claim that Lowrey’s text falls short due to “too much wishful thinking,” “arguments based on opinion,” and “The Matrix” quotes that “detract from the seriousness of the topic.”
