Afterword: What Comes Next

We began with a puzzle: Why does Bitcoin have value? The question seemed to require locating value somewhere—in the object, in the subject, in preferences, in utility. None of these locations seemed quite right.

The answer we have developed is different. Value is not located; it is enacted. It emerges from the interaction of embodied organisms with their environment, leaving traces that accumulate into stratigraphy. Bitcoin is the scaffold where these traces persist—globally accessible, thermodynamically secured, resistant to revision.

This is not merely a theory about Bitcoin. It is a framework for understanding economic behavior as embodied, enacted, and traceable.

Alliesthetic Economics as a Research Program

The framework we have developed suggests new directions for empirical research.

If value construction depends on the internal states of organisms, we should be able to study how physiological variables affect economic behavior. Hunger, fatigue, arousal, stress, hormone levels—these should systematically influence valuation. The tools exist: wearable devices can track physiological states; transaction records can capture behavior; the correlation between the two can be studied.

If value construction depends on the affordances of economic scaffolds, we should be able to study how scaffold design affects behavior. Different interfaces create different frictions; different protocols create different affordances. Comparing behavior across scaffolds—Bitcoin versus traditional banking, centralized versus decentralized exchanges, high-friction versus low-friction environments—should reveal how affordances shape value construction.

If friction is the central variable, we should be able to measure it and study its effects. This is already happening in some domains: payment processors study checkout abandonment rates; governments study regulatory burden; platform designers study user friction. But a unified framework that treats friction as the fundamental economic variable could integrate these disparate efforts.

Alliesthetic economics—the study of how organism-environment coupling shapes value construction—is not yet a discipline. But the pieces are in place. What remains is the synthesis.

Implications for Financial Infrastructure

If the framework is correct, it has implications for how we design financial systems.

Accessibility matters. Financial exclusion is not merely inconvenience; it is blocked value construction. Systems that reduce access friction—permissionless protocols, open APIs, interoperable standards—enable more organisms to participate in economic life.

Signal clarity matters. When prices are distorted by manipulation, subsidy, or interference, organisms receive misleading information about the state of play. Clean signals enable better value construction; noisy signals impede it.

Scaffold reliability matters. Organisms build on scaffolds they trust. A ledger that can be revised, a currency that can be debased, a contract that can be voided—these create uncertainty that discourages long-term planning. Strong scaffolds enable long-term value construction.

Bitcoin satisfies these criteria unusually well. It is accessible (permissionless), provides clean signals (market-determined prices without central bank interference), and is reliably immutable (thermodynamically secured). Whether Bitcoin will become the dominant global scaffold for value construction remains to be seen, but its properties position it well for that role.

The Question of Adoption

We have argued that economic systems tend to converge on the hardest available money. Gold served this function for millennia; Bitcoin may serve it going forward. But convergence is not guaranteed.

Path dependence works in both directions. Bitcoin’s growing stratigraphic depth makes it increasingly reliable as a scaffold—but incumbent systems have their own path dependence, their own network effects, their own institutional support. The transition, if it occurs, will not be instantaneous.

What the framework offers is clarity about what is at stake. The question is not merely “Will Bitcoin succeed?” but “Will a neutral, durable, accessible, reliable scaffold for value construction emerge?” Bitcoin is the leading candidate for this role. If it fails, the need for such a scaffold will remain, and the search will continue.

A Personal Reflection

This book began with a puzzle and ends with a framework. Along the way, I have tried to dissolve old debates rather than win them, to ground abstract concepts in physical reality, and to take seriously the embodied nature of economic agents.

I do not claim that constructed value theory is the final word on economic philosophy. Theories are tools, not truths. They are useful insofar as they illuminate phenomena, guide inquiry, and generate testable predictions. Whether this framework proves useful remains to be seen.

What I do claim is that Bitcoin has revealed something important about value that previous economic theories obscured. By providing a physical scaffold where transactions leave permanent traces, Bitcoin makes visible what was previously hidden: the enacted, embodied, traceable nature of value construction.

This is not a small thing. For centuries, economists have debated where value resides, what it is, how it can be measured. Bitcoin does not answer these questions—it dissolves them. It shows us that value is not a thing to be found but an activity to be observed.

The abacus does not create value. The abacus counts. But the counting changes everything.

The beads rest. The surface reflects. The depth accumulates.

Tomorrow there will be more transactions. More traces. More value constructed.

The scaffold holds.

--- title: "Afterword: What Comes Next" --- We began with a puzzle: Why does Bitcoin have value? The question seemed to require locating value somewhere---in the object, in the subject, in preferences, in utility. None of these locations seemed quite right. The answer we have developed is different. Value is not located; it is enacted. It emerges from the interaction of embodied organisms with their environment, leaving traces that accumulate into stratigraphy. Bitcoin is the scaffold where these traces persist---globally accessible, thermodynamically secured, resistant to revision. This is not merely a theory about Bitcoin. It is a framework for understanding economic behavior as embodied, enacted, and traceable. ## Alliesthetic Economics as a Research Program The framework we have developed suggests new directions for empirical research. If value construction depends on the internal states of organisms, we should be able to study how physiological variables affect economic behavior. Hunger, fatigue, arousal, stress, hormone levels---these should systematically influence valuation. The tools exist: wearable devices can track physiological states; transaction records can capture behavior; the correlation between the two can be studied. If value construction depends on the affordances of economic scaffolds, we should be able to study how scaffold design affects behavior. Different interfaces create different frictions; different protocols create different affordances. Comparing behavior across scaffolds---Bitcoin versus traditional banking, centralized versus decentralized exchanges, high-friction versus low-friction environments---should reveal how affordances shape value construction. If friction is the central variable, we should be able to measure it and study its effects. This is already happening in some domains: payment processors study checkout abandonment rates; governments study regulatory burden; platform designers study user friction. But a unified framework that treats friction as the fundamental economic variable could integrate these disparate efforts. Alliesthetic economics---the study of how organism-environment coupling shapes value construction---is not yet a discipline. But the pieces are in place. What remains is the synthesis. ## Implications for Financial Infrastructure If the framework is correct, it has implications for how we design financial systems. **Accessibility matters.** Financial exclusion is not merely inconvenience; it is blocked value construction. Systems that reduce access friction---permissionless protocols, open APIs, interoperable standards---enable more organisms to participate in economic life. **Signal clarity matters.** When prices are distorted by manipulation, subsidy, or interference, organisms receive misleading information about the state of play. Clean signals enable better value construction; noisy signals impede it. **Scaffold reliability matters.** Organisms build on scaffolds they trust. A ledger that can be revised, a currency that can be debased, a contract that can be voided---these create uncertainty that discourages long-term planning. Strong scaffolds enable long-term value construction. Bitcoin satisfies these criteria unusually well. It is accessible (permissionless), provides clean signals (market-determined prices without central bank interference), and is reliably immutable (thermodynamically secured). Whether Bitcoin will become the dominant global scaffold for value construction remains to be seen, but its properties position it well for that role. ## The Question of Adoption We have argued that economic systems tend to converge on the hardest available money. Gold served this function for millennia; Bitcoin may serve it going forward. But convergence is not guaranteed. Path dependence works in both directions. Bitcoin's growing stratigraphic depth makes it increasingly reliable as a scaffold---but incumbent systems have their own path dependence, their own network effects, their own institutional support. The transition, if it occurs, will not be instantaneous. What the framework offers is clarity about what is at stake. The question is not merely "Will Bitcoin succeed?" but "Will a neutral, durable, accessible, reliable scaffold for value construction emerge?" Bitcoin is the leading candidate for this role. If it fails, the need for such a scaffold will remain, and the search will continue. ## A Personal Reflection This book began with a puzzle and ends with a framework. Along the way, I have tried to dissolve old debates rather than win them, to ground abstract concepts in physical reality, and to take seriously the embodied nature of economic agents. I do not claim that constructed value theory is the final word on economic philosophy. Theories are tools, not truths. They are useful insofar as they illuminate phenomena, guide inquiry, and generate testable predictions. Whether this framework proves useful remains to be seen. What I do claim is that Bitcoin has revealed something important about value that previous economic theories obscured. By providing a physical scaffold where transactions leave permanent traces, Bitcoin makes visible what was previously hidden: the enacted, embodied, traceable nature of value construction. This is not a small thing. For centuries, economists have debated where value resides, what it is, how it can be measured. Bitcoin does not answer these questions---it dissolves them. It shows us that value is not a thing to be found but an activity to be observed. The abacus does not create value. The abacus counts. But the counting changes everything. --- *The beads rest. The surface reflects. The depth accumulates.* *Tomorrow there will be more transactions. More traces. More value constructed.* *The scaffold holds.*