The Anti-Authoritarian Tech Stack gm Bankless Nation,
Crypto has gotten a mainstream embrace by politicians over the past several years but its underlying power as a tool in the anti-authoritarian tech stack remains robust. Today, David looks at other technologies getting put to the test in real-time on the ground in Iran. Thanks for being a subscriber,
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. . . OPINION The Anti-Authoritarian Tech Stack We might be in one of those weeks where decades happen. The Iranian regime has been in power for 47 years. There have been protests every few years, for a mix of reasons between anti-regime and economic dissatisfaction. - 1999 student protests
- 2009 Green Movement
- 2017 protests
- 2019 gasoline price protests
- 2021 water shortage protests
- 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests
Generations of Iranians have seen all of these protests, and they say the current protests are the largest and most energetic they have ever seen. In 2026, the technology is already meaningfully different than the protests of years past. The pendulum of power has shifted towards the people. Prediction markets, Starlink, and Twitter are all helping spread the message of the Iranian people in ways they haven’t before. Prediction MarketsBack in October, I wrote about the ability of prediction markets to speak truth to power. The truth can often be inconvenient for those in power, and history has shown that regimes attempt to control truth and information in pursuit of maintaining their control over their people. In happy times, we will debate about whether prediction markets are just another form of gambling, but in the weeks in which decades happen, prediction markets are an incredible tool to speak truth to power. Starlink Satellite InternetThe Iranian government has had their internet shut down for 2 days now. They are preventing their people from coordinating together, and perhaps also blacking out the Western world's ability to see the crimes they are committing against their people. But in 2026, we have Starlink. It seems there are a sufficiently large number of Starlink devices that have been smuggled into Iran that are allowing videos and communication to surface to the outside world. Thanks to Starlink, the protesters have some ability to communicate. They can see and spread the message from opposition leader Reza Pahlavi. The world can see the rising death toll of protesters who have been shot by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who have also said that if they disobey orders, they too will be shot by their commanders. We know these things, thanks to Starlink. Twitter is where the story goes from local to global. Twitter is where Iranians are capable of communicating their efforts with each other – as well as with the outside world. Videos from Iran are spreading like wildfire around the world, leading to the global members of the Iranian diaspora doing their part – lighting cigarettes with burning pictures of the Ayatollah, and at the Iranian embassy in London, they are tearing down the Iranian regime flag, and replacing it with the pre-revolution Lion and Sun. Thanks to Twitter, the movement is being broadcast, and the Iranian diaspora is reverberating the energy back. Right now, Twitter is the front page of the Iranian revolution. The U.S. currently has plenty of drama going on, but nonetheless I have been disappointed about the lack of coverage of Iran’s largest protests in the entirety of its regime. In my opinion, the Islamic Republic of Iran represents a capstone of global evil and influence. If the Iranian regime falls, it sets off a series of dominoes that can finally allow modernity and civility to rise in the Middle East. It seems the people on Twitter think this story is the world's biggest story, even if Western media’s editorial decisions don’t seem to agree. Fingers CrossedMy heart goes out to the Iranian people. They are doing society's dirty work. In the West, we often talk about bravery, freedom, and standing up to authority in abstract terms. The people of Iran are living it. While the regime is calling for live fire against its own people, those people nonetheless have stood up and protested for over 10 days straight. They keep going back out and doing it all over again, at risk to their lives. In 2026, society has produced more freedom technology than ever. Hopefully that’s what the Iranian people need to finally be rid of their oppressive regime. Technology is making the world better, and the Iranian people are putting it into practice. . . . WHAT YOU MISSED Transactions Surging 📈 The Asset🏛️ The Protocol📱 The Apps🐸 The Culture💽 The Tech . . . WEEKLY ROLLUP Trilemma Solved? Prediction markets are turning into real-time intelligence, and policymakers are already reacting. In this week’s Weekly Rollup, Ryan and David unpack the Venezuela “Maduro trade," the debate over fairness vs. public signal, and Polymarket’s expansion into real estate markets. They also cover Bitcoin’s lowest-vol year ever, Solana’s DEX surge, Ethereum’s stablecoin settlement ATH, Morgan Stanley’s crypto ETF filings, Zcash’s governance blowup, Lighter’s massive $LIT airdrop, Vitalik’s “trilemma solved” claim, Wyoming’s state stablecoin, and Strategy’s path toward major indices. Tune into this week’s Rollup! 👇 | 
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