“Bitcoin is neither globalist nor nationalist”: Álvaro D. María

The Spanish writer and popularizer Álvaro D. María stated that bitcoin (BTC) opens a new path to explore alternative political frameworks. As he explained, Satoshi’s creation “is neither globalist nor nationalist,” but rather proposes a new way of articulating the local and the global without depending on the State.

In her analysis, D. María maintains that bitcoin occupies a middle ground between two currents that are usually presented as opposites. On the one hand, it aspires to be a global currency, but without aligning itself with globalism, since “it does not depend on intermediaries.” At the same time, it challenges nation states “without frontal opposition”, forcing them to adapt to a digital and decentralized environment.

The author remembered that in his book The Bitcoin Philosophy had raised this idea: “Bitcoin enables new economic, social and political paradigms by linking the local with the global without state intervention.”

One of the clearest examples of this dynamic, he noted, is the case of El Zonte (also known as Bitcoin Beach) in El Salvador, a small coastal town where, starting in 2019, a private and community initiative began using BTC as an everyday currency.

A historic transition: from the industrial age to the information age

To contextualize his arguments, D. María assured: “We are experiencing a turning point in history, a moment of transition where the old refuses to die and the new fights to be born.” He added that the industrial era was characterized by large-scale production, the central role of States and dependence on factories that required infrastructure, trade routes and concentrated labor.

That logic, he maintains, is being replaced by the information age, since today people no longer need to mass produce to integrate into the global economy. In fact, one of the central points of his approach is the way in which bitcoin allows historically marginalized regions to connect, for the first time, with the global economy.

D. María highlighted that During the industrial era many areas were excluded from the financial systemthey depended on remittances and lacked formal investment and property rights. Now, he highlights, “more than 1.8 billion people can access global value chains for the first time” thanks to the combination of the internet and bitcoin.

This, according to the academic, reduces state intervention in economic life and allows “the local to connect with the global, and the global to rediscover the singularity of the local.” The bitcoin maximalist claims that current times are allowing many local communities to offer services and culture to the world, attracting visitors and participants in their circular economies.

A technology at the service of the community

He warns, however, that The mistake would be to consider bitcoin as the identity basis of these communities. “Bitcoin is a tool, not the cornerstone,” he said, comparing this phenomenon with military history. He explained that gunpowder destroyed the walled cities, but that did not lead to the creation of “gunpowder cities.”

For him, the true basis must be the search for personal and collective development, and bitcoin is a tool that allows these processes to be promoted.

Still, he concludes that bitcoin’s circular economies represent “an important step toward personalized jurisdictions that connect the local to the global, not only economically, but also politically.” In his vision, these experiences can inspire the world and demonstrate that bitcoin is a tool to build a new reality socioeconomic.

Beyond its community focus, D. María also highlighted the political impact of BTC during the Watch Out! conference. Bitcoin 2025. In an interview with CriptoNoticias, he highlighted that the asset is transforming power relations even in countries like the United States. He stated that those who own it can influence politics through donations and support for candidates.