Bitcoin Programmability and the Next Bretton Woods

A Deep and Practical Dive on How the New Monetary Stack Mirrors—and Improves—Our Last Global System

Fresh off the largest week of conversations yet at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas, NV last week, I am putting out this topic as it will surface in a multitude of philosophical and technical debates in the coming months and years, and having context in general helps add more informed minds to the ongoing development of the next world order’s underpinning financial infrastructure and user experience.

History Helps Us See the Future

In 1944, global leaders gathered in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to design a postwar monetary system that would bring stability, trust, and liquidity to the world economy. What emerged was a layered system with gold as the base layer, the U.S. dollar as the programmable intermediary, and institutions like the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank managing governance and interoperability.