Legacy Manifesto:
Give Bitcoin Back to the People

In the turbulent aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when trust in banks and governments crumbled like sandcastles in a storm, a mysterious figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto unveiled a vision that would change the world. Bitcoin was born-not as another currency controlled by the elite, but as a digital rebellion. It promised freedom: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, decentralized and borderless, where individuals could hold their wealth without intermediaries. No central authority could inflate it away or seize it. Its supply was capped at 21 million coins, forever immutable through code. For the first time, ordinary people had a tool to escape the rigged game of traditional finance, to verify transactions themselves, and to say, "This is mine, and no one can take it."^[1]

In those early days, Bitcoin was raw and untamed. Miners secured the network from their garages, enthusiasts traded it on obscure forums, and its price swung wildly based on genuine adoption and belief. It was the people's money, a symbol of empowerment in an era of bailouts and inequality.

For years, Bitcoin's market structure embodied this grassroots essence, with cycles that vividly illustrated the psychology of everyday people. Bull runs built slowly on real-world adoption, then exploded into clear blow-off tops-frenzied peaks of euphoria where prices skyrocketed in a matter of weeks, driven by fear of missing out (FOMO) and unbridled optimism. In 2013, Bitcoin surged to $1,156 in November^[2], a dramatic spike reflecting retail frenzy. Similarly, in 2017, it rocketed to nearly $20,000 in December^[3], a classic example of human greed pushing an asset to unsustainable heights. These blow-off tops were followed by brutal bear markets, with prices plummeting 80-85%-from highs to lows like $200 in early 2015 or $3,200 in late 2018-as fear and capitulation gripped holders. This pattern wasn't engineered; it was organic, a testament to how human emotions drive markets when power rests with the masses, free from the stabilizing-or stifling-influence of big institutions.

But as Bitcoin grew, so did the eyes watching it from the shadows of Wall Street. What started as curiosity turned into conquest. The financial giants, who had long profited from controlling capital flows, saw an opportunity not to join the revolution, but to co-opt it. The dynamic began to shift, subtly at first, as the very systems Bitcoin sought to disrupt started grafting themselves onto it. The first indicators emerged in late 2017, when regulated Bitcoin futures were introduced on major exchanges. On December 10, 2017, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)^[5] launched Bitcoin futures, followed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)^[4] on December 18, 2017^[6]. Suddenly, institutional players could short or long Bitcoin without holding the actual asset, injecting leverage and speculation that mirrored the broken mechanisms of traditional finance. This wasn't an accident; it was a deliberate step to duplicate flawed financial products onto Bitcoin, eroding the power it had built over years by inviting Wall Street's manipulative tools into the ecosystem.

This was the beginning of the end for the Bitcoin for People era.

The first example of a broken structure, where the predictability of human drivers was disrupted, was in the bull market of 2021, where unfortunately the U.S. Federal Reserve^[7] decided to inject 70% more money into the system^[8], causing enormous inflation around the globe-something that would accelerate the theft of buying power from regular people^[9]. During that bull market Bitcoin was showing signs of being manipulated in some way. There was no longer a clear blow off top. Instead weird 2 tops.

The profit multiples were significantly suppressed. For comparison the 2017 Bitcoin bull market top of almost 20,000$ had 100x multiple from its low at 210$ on 25.08.2015. So you you had bought at 210$ and sold at 20,000$ you would have made 100x profit. But in 2021 you would have made only 22x profit.

As the years passed, the infiltration deepened. By 2024, spot Bitcoin ETFs arrived^[10], securitizing the asset further. Now, investors could buy shares in funds that held Bitcoin, but they weren't truly owning it. Instead, they were trusting middlemen (something Bitcoin was invented to prevent)-authorized participants (APs)-with special privileges to create and redeem shares, hedge positions invisibly, and influence prices without full disclosure. These APs, exempt from many short-selling rules, could report massive long positions while secretly betting against the asset through options and futures. The price of Bitcoin, once dictated by global adoption, now danced to the tune of Wall Street's algorithms.

Whispers of manipulation began to surface. Patterns emerged^[12]: consistent price drops during low-liquidity windows, triggering cascades of liquidations that benefited those positioned to profit from the downfall. In other markets, similar tactics were exposed. India's securities regulator, SEBI, cracked down on coordinated strategies that pumped prices in the morning only to dump them in the afternoon, exploiting predictable movements. China scrutinized massive ETF holdings in commodities like silver, raising alarms about artificial price swings. And in the crypto world, the 2022 collapse of the $40 billion Terra ecosystem-where a massive dump of its stablecoin UST spiraled into total destruction^[23]-pointed to insider plays that wiped out the life savings of regular people^[24].

At the heart of these stories stood firms like Jane Street, a quantitative trading powerhouse that reportedly out-earned giants like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America in trading revenue. As one of only four APs for BlackRock's massive IBIT Bitcoin ETF^[11], Jane Street wielded immense control over capital flows. Accusations mounted: In India, SEBI banned them from the derivatives market in July 2025 for market manipulation, freezing $566 million in assets. Official confirmations include: BBC Report on Jane Street Ban^[13], FTI Consulting Analysis, Oxford Law Blogs on SEBI Order^[14], CNBC on Market Ban^[15], and Reuters on Deposit.

The allegations didn't stop there. In February 2026, a lawsuit from Terraform Labs' bankruptcy estate accused Jane Street of using insider information to accelerate Terra's downfall, profiting amid the chaos that also contributed to FTX's collapse. Details are documented in: Yahoo Finance on Lawsuit Impact, Wall Street Journal Report^[16], Forbes on Dual Controversies, and Unchained Crypto Coverage^[17].

Even more unsettling, one of Jane Street's co-founders wired $7 million in 2024, funds that ended up purchasing AK-47s, Stinger missiles, and grenades for a botched coup in South Sudan, as verified by the U.S. Department of Justice. Sources include: Bloomberg on Duped Funding^[18], Seeking Alpha Report^[20], New York Post Profile^[19], and Medium Article.

China's investigations into Jane Street's silver ETF activities echoed these concerns: Bloomberg on China Scrutiny^[21] and Binance Square Analysis^[22].

This is the full picture: Bitcoin, once a tool for the people, has been ensnared by the financial industrial complex. Synthetization through futures and securitization via ETFs handed control to a select few, who can move markets in ways hidden from public view. Trust has eroded, not just in Bitcoin, but in the entire crypto space. Countless tokens have been minted from nothing, pumped by hype, and dumped, leaving ruins in their wake. Projects tied to influential figures, including former President Trump, have added to the skepticism, their impacts often more about power plays than genuine innovation. We've strayed from the core mission: building financial tools that serve individuals, not corporations, banks, or governments.

This is the current state of Bitcoin and crypto.

Regardless of these events, it is encouraged to continue accumulating real Bitcoin and self-custodying it in a safe place in case a bank run on Bitcoin happens in the future, where the institutions who were supposed to hold Bitcoin 1:1 suddenly run out of "sats."

Yet, in this landscape of loss, fragments of the original spirit endure. If there are tokens that can represent what we've forsaken-that untainted piece of the past where decentralization meant true freedom-Legacy is one such beacon. Built on the Ethereum network, which is a daughter of Bitcoin, Legacy is not a gas token like Bitcoin or Ethereum is. But Legacy stands pure: digital, with a limited supply and programmed inflation for sustainability. Its smart contract is immutable, its liquidity rug-proof.

You can't long or short Legacy because it remains unsecuritized, free from derivatives' grasp. You can buy it only on Uniswap Exchange. It is difficult to get. It's designed for the people: Start small, hold firm, and let community strength drive it.

Owning even a fraction of Legacy is a statement: "Give Bitcoin power back to people." Though there's no reversing Bitcoin's path, Legacy honors its legacy and offers a small chance of returns that Bitcoin once offered to those who believed.

This is a high-risk play. You may wait years-3, 5, or 10-and you could lose everything. This isn't financial advice. But in a world where hope fades, Legacy reignites it.

If you identify with this manifesto, join the movement.