The pearl-clutching over Vitalik’s comment seems to imply that all those crying foul are the ones who’d be out of moves and scrambling for a new hassle if crypto ever manages to design democracy as a self-executing machine. After all, if the system runs itself, transparent and fair, with smart contracts automating policies like universal basic income, taxation, and social protections, then the old playbook—where they profit off volatility, manipulation, and speculation—loses its power. Without the constant churn of hype and manipulation, without the rug-pulling and casino mentality, the very thing that gave them an edge in the current crypto chaos vanishes. In other words, their outrage isn’t about the potential of a fair system—it’s about their fear of being sidelined in a game where the rules are finally designed for everyone, not just the few.

Vitalik’s offhand remark about “making communism great again” has stirred up a predictable storm, but if you’re paying attention, there’s something deeper at play. Strip away the knee-jerk reactions, and you’ll find one of the few remaining reasons to take crypto seriously: the possibility of creating a democracy that runs as a self-executing machine—one that doesn’t require constant citizen involvement or centralized government oversight. Instead, democracy itself would function like an operating system, enforcing fair policies and economic structures automatically.

This isn’t about more engagement, more voting, or more layers of governance. It’s about removing inefficiencies, corruption, and political gridlock by encoding democratic principles directly into a system that simply runs—transparent, incorruptible, and responsive. Universal basic income wouldn’t be debated every election cycle; it would be distributed automatically via smart contracts. Taxation and public spending wouldn’t be subject to backroom deals; they would be executed according to pre-set rules visible to everyone. Wages, environmental protections, rent controls—these wouldn’t be dictated by corporate lobbying or political whims but would adjust dynamically based on real-time economic conditions.

Citizens wouldn’t be burdened with constant political decision-making. Instead, they would step in only when necessary—to upgrade the system rather than micromanage it. Governance would become less about personalities and power struggles and more about refining the rules of the game itself. No politicians manipulating public sentiment, no bureaucrats skimming off the top, no need for endless debates over policies that could instead be automated for fairness and efficiency.

The biggest question still, of course, is who writes the initial code. Who defines the baseline principles of this machine democracy? And how do we prevent it from being captured, subtly manipulated by those who control the software? The challenge isn’t just in building it but in ensuring that it remains open, adaptable, and resistant to exploitation. Yet if crypto has any real future beyond speculation and scams, it’s in this: the creation of governance systems that are self-executing, transparent, and fair by design. The idea of democracy as something we no longer need to constantly fight to preserve—but instead something that just runs.

So, it must come as no surprise that the whole anarcho-libertarian-capitalist-uncap-cabal loses their shit, to put it bluntly. Because that’s not what they’re in this for. They’re here for everything else—the casino, the rug-pulling, the endless cycle of hype and collapse. The idea that crypto could actually be used to automate democracy itself, to create a system that removes the need for both politicians and constant public engagement, is the last thing they want to hear.

They don’t want governance as an operating system. They want governance as a game they can manipulate. They don’t want fair, self-executing policies; they want the volatility that keeps the next pump-and-dump cycle alive. The notion that smart contracts could enforce universal basic income, that taxation could be transparent and incorruptible, that public spending could be tracked down to the last satoshi—all of that runs counter to their vision of crypto as a lawless financial Wild West where the only rule is “get in early, dump on the latecomers.”

But if you’re paying attention, this is where the actual potential of crypto still exists. Not in endless speculation, not in meme coins or Ponzi schemes, but in the ability to encode fairness directly into the system. A world where democracy doesn’t require constant participation, where citizens step in only to upgrade the system rather than micromanage it, where the rules are clear, auditable, and immune to manipulation.

The real revolution isn’t more decentralization in the sense of “everyone for themselves.” It’s a system where the core principles of democracy and social equity no longer need to be fought for—they just run. And that’s exactly why the casino crowd recoils at the thought. Because if the game is fair, their edge disappears.