Bitcoin Software Thesis Becomes Amazon’s Bestseller – Cryptopolitan
Amid the ongoing debate over the geopolitical implications of Bitcoin, a doctoral dissertation by US 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.
The Bitcoin concept makes it to Amazon
A master’s thesis may not sound like a page-turner to many readers. However, a long academic paper on Bitcoin written by a US Space Force major has emerged as a popular Amazon pick.
“Softwar” claims 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 spending Bitcoin’s network has today.
According to Lowrey’s brief description on Amazon, he advised several senior US leaders on Bitcoin-related regulations in the offices of the President, Secretary of Defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The academic article explains how he completed academic research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during a six-month grant supported by the Department of Defense. The title of the paper is “Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin.”
Although Softwar does not rank in the top 500 books on Amazon, Lowery’s search for BTC has reached the top spot in Amazon’s virtual currency category. It is currently ranked number two in both technology and engineering books. The more than 350-page book draws on anthropology and computer science, among other things, to establish and explore Lowery’s “Power Projection Theory.”
Lowery effectively 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 point is that Bitcoin may represent a “software” or electrocyber defense protocol, not just a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. While most software can only logically limit computers, Bitcoin can physically limit computers.
Software by Jason Lowery
Software pays tribute to BTC veterans
The book’s acknowledgments section acknowledges some of BTC’s most ardent supporters, including MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and Peter McCormack.
Lowrey also writes in his article that insufficient BTC reserves held on behalf of the US government could threaten national security. This is if the network is used as a cyber security tool.
According to him, if the country does not start storing strategic Bitcoin reserves or at least promote Bitcoin adoption, the United States may have to abandon its position as an international power dominance.
If the US does not consider storing strategic Bitcoin reserves, or at least encourage Bitcoin adoption. The US could lose a strategically vital power […] and settled back into global power dominance.
Software by Jason Lowery
But given that Lowrey’s thesis was published in February and the US declared that it sold $215 million in confiscated Bitcoin last month, few Fed members seem to be heeding his hypothesis.
The book also contains 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 “Software” 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 subject”.
