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Bitcoin and the Return of the Free Cities

This article explores the historical parallels between the rise of free merchant cities in the Late Middle Ages—such as Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Lübeck—and the emergence of Bitcoin as an engineered, parasovereign monetary network. It examines how non-sovereign systems of trade, law, and constraint fostered durable economic coordination in the past and how Bitcoin and its layered protocols now echo that role in the digital realm. Rather than overthrowing the state, these systems limit its reach by creating alternative structures grounded in rules, not rulers.