My name is Johnny Orange; I’m a 57 year-old citadel elder and this is the story of Citadel One - rise of the first citadel.

EPOCH 4: 2020

Now 11 years old - Bitcoin continued to gain strength. The price reached $10,000: 50% from its all time high. As Bitcoin continued to plough on - unobserved by most (honey badger don’t care; honey badger don’t give a shit), a pandemic gripped the world. The new deadly virus (the flu) spread around the globe at an incredible rate. The new novel virus was treated with caution; towns and cities from across the world went into lockdown. Societies prepared for the worst and people banded together. People talked, people shared, people face-timed, and people quizzed, but the comradery didn't last long.

The virus began to diminish fast (not as fast as Trace Mayer's reputation) and as restrictions on lockdown were eased, the virus became political. The comradery was over; tensions grew between the left and the right and many of the population lost all capacity for rational thinking.

2021

The international lockdown caused a shock to the global economy. Printers from far and wide made a sound that went brrr, as governments tried to print their way out of a looming economic crisis: but it was futile. Purchasing power quickly diminished, and inflation accelerated faster than a Karen squealing “GET ME THE MANAGER”!

The price of food swiftly increased, while the size of portions decreased. Toblerone lost its peaks (again); cans of coke were drank with a single gulp, and two tea bags were needed to make one good cuppa. Fast food was also hit hard: the Big Mac became a micro Mac; the Whopper - a whimper and a Bargain Bucket became, well - not so much of a bargain.

People lost their jobs, business’ went bust and the wankers, (I mean bankers), were bailed out again. As a byproduct, the political spectrum became more polarised and extreme. As Yoda once said - fear led to hate, hate led to anger and anger led to suffering. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, the global shutdown shone light on the systematic damage that we were doing to the planet. Elon Musk ramped up development on sustainable energy and expansion of Interplanetary transportation, while Greta Thunberg stapled herself to a tree.

Meanwhile, most Bitcoiners opted to take a more stoic approach. They refused to take sides and get drawn into the hostility. Instead, they continued to build, work, educate and focus on development. The largest whales, best developers and most intellectual thought leaders were openly meeting to discuss ideas on how to build a new future.

2022

Due to an irrational fear of bacteria and disease, cash became a dirty word: the vast majority of people looked upon it with utter disgust - like one of those crusty, old porno mags that you’d stumble across in the woods. It also became much easier and convenient to transact using a mobile device; as a consequence, cash became obsolete by default.

Very shortly after, two things happened:

1. Negative interest rates were introduced.

2. The public was prohibited from buying or owning gold.

People became financially trapped, as their hard-earned savings were slowly but surely being confiscated. Due to little savings and a relatively low negative rate, most people just didn’t give a shit.

Some (the intelligent money) did in fact opt out of the system, and in the late autumn, the price of Bitcoin surged to around $60,000 (even Peter Schiff finally became a Bitcoin maximalist). The news of Bitcoin’s rise went unnoticed by most. The headlines were dominated by propaganda and political stories that fuelled more hate and division. Governments had larger issues on their hands, as demonstrations turned ugly. Society started to slowly descend into the gutter.

2023

The cost of living continued to rise and people struggled to survive. Unemployment soared, supply chains were broken and food became rationed. The violent demonstrations that people thought would bring change, did in fact bring change, but not the type they were expecting. The persistent vandalism, looting and violence forced governments to take more authoritarian measures. This included things like facial recognition, location tracking and curfews. Censorship became the norm, and people’s privacy was taken away as a consequence. The left blamed the right, the right blamed the left, and everybody blamed the government.

In the early summer, many countries legalised cannabis in an attempt to subdue he population and chill everybody the fuck out. Amazingly, it temporarily worked. Society spent the entire summer getting stoned. But with the onset of autumn, and a shit-ton of Doritos later, paranoia ensued and the summer high came to an abrupt end.

Meanwhile, Bitcoiners were still gathering and meeting up regularly. One particular place - owned by an early Bitcoin adopter and spanning hundreds of acres of land - became a very popular destination. Eventually (as meet-ups became more frequent), the whale gave them (us), and our families permission to settle permanently on his land.

The prospect of a new future attracted libertarians from all walks of life; programmers, farmers, builders, carpenters, electricians, plumbers (turd wranglers), fire fighters, architects, doctors, nurses and many more (although in the early days, it was a right sausage fest).

Very shortly after, the new settlement was officially established and it was named Citadel One.

EPOCH 5: 2024

As society continued on its current trajectory (south), it inevitably became more polarised, and on the 4th of March civil war broke out. This was not an isolated incident; it happened in countries across the world. The common plebs took up arms, the rich and famous built and hid in underground bunkers, and Elon Musk packed up and fucked off to his martian retreat.

News started to spread about the new Bitcoin settlement, and similar minded people with no interest in fighting a phoney war started to come together to purchase land in a multitude of locations. Meanwhile, development and infrastructure of Citadel One accelerated at a rapid rate. Buildings were built from solid stone, local business were created, crops were being grown and cattle roamed free. The settlement was powered from renewable energy - solar, wind and hydro - from a river that ran through the land (the scene of many boating accidents).

A hybrid battery/mining farm was constructed, which provided electricity and heat to many homes and business. A grand party was thrown in this year, and everybody got completely rat-arsed to celebrate the dawn of the 5th epoch.

2025

With the civil war becoming an ever larger threat, Citadel One began development on defence. Guns were printed, Cybertrucks were purchased, and the inhabitants trained in the art of self-defense. In late winter, the community pooled together some capital, and construction began on the perimeter wall. The wall was built using Interlocking concrete “lego” style blocks. It stood six meters high, had two meter parapets and was four meters thick. Watchtowers were strategically placed around the perimeter. Due to the hard grit of the community, the construction was completed within a couple of years.

Crime became non-existent in the citadel. Most people were rational, good people and if somebody was found guilty of committing a minor crime, they were exiled into the wilderness. If somebody committed murder, rape or harm to a child, their ass was dragged to the gallows and they were dropped from the end of a rope (fortunately, no such atrocity ever occurred).

2026

At the start of the year, inflation became hyperinflation and a demand for hard money gained momentum. As a result, neither side could continue to fund the civil war, and on the 16th of June 2026 (the day now known as B-Day), the civil war suddenly came to an end. People were beaten, broken, bleeding and hungry. There was no monumental battle, nor any type of grand event. It was simply one man turning around to his comrades and saying “I’m pretty tired — I think I’ll go home now” and that was that. People put down their weapons and headed home, to try and salvage any small part of their previous lives that they could.

Governments and the legacy financial system now lay in ruins. The mass majority of people scrambled to purchase whatever Bitcoin they could, and as a result, the price of Bitcoin soared from $100,000 to $2,000,000 dollars per coin, before the fiat peg was finally broken. Liquidity dried up and nobody would sell a single satoshi. Fiat collapsed into oblivion.

Now, the only way to accumulate Bitcoin was to either work for it, or sell valuable items such as tools, books, hardware, livestock, or a collectors edition of Pulp Fiction. Citadels and settlements emerged across the globe. Some were built from scratch, and others were retrofitted around small towns. With governments now obsolete, laws and powers became devolved.

2027

Citadels and settlements now became commonplace. There were many different types, each having their own laws and political structures. Citadels began to trade with one another, using Bitcoin as the medium of exchange.

Outside of the citadels (in the wilderness), society became a lawless wild west. The toughest, hardest, meanest motherfuckers, who were capable of survival, banded together in organised gangs. The gangs fortified buildings such as prisons, shopping malls, schools and hospitals. These cesspits were home to a wretched hive of villainy, evil and scum. Although they were not very technically sophisticated, they were well armed and extremely dangerous.

The wilderness was also home to many nomads, mercenaries, drifters, lone wolves and hired guns (the apex predators). And for the right price, they could be employed to carry out various contracts and bounties. Life outside of the citadels made John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" look like a utopian fairy tale.

EPOCH 6: 2028

Some altcoin communities refused to give up on their pet projects and constructed citadels of their own. The Ethereans built a grand structure (Citadel 2.0) which was decorated from top-to-bottom with rainbows and unicorns. The Ethereans were a peaceful group, who spent their evenings dancing and singing around a cosy, mellow fire.

They also decided against taking up arms - opting for a more peaceful approach. But a couple of years later, their citadel was burnt to a crisp. Legend has it that a swarm of nomadic cannibals armed with only archaic weapons (forks and stakes), exploited a critical flaw in the over-complex foundations of the perimeter wall. The wall was breached and the swarm rode bareback on horses: blaring out Link Wray's “Jack the Ripper” in synchronisation, while wreaking havoc across the land.

Rumours have it that Vitalik escaped. Some say that he now walks the Earth barefoot (like Caine in Kung-Fu), while others say he was tagged by a stray arrow on the great planes of Satoshi and now rests peacefully with his heavy bags.

2029

Citadel communities soon began to stabilise, and they opened up their doors and drawbridges to visitors. On one early summer evening, the lads at Citadel One ventured out on a heroic quest. The aim: to conquer Citadel 69, a legendary, ramshackle place of alcoholic indulgence, eternal riches and big tittle bitches. We didn’t waste any time, we jumped in a cybertruck and headed out into the wilderness (while playing Queen’s greatest hits at maximum volume).

There was banter, there was controversy, there was laughter. There were ladies and there were shots. By midnight, things got mental and that's where it all went fuck-up. As dawn broke, we headed home with blood on our knuckles, beer down our shirts and vomit on our shoes. This story deserves to stand in its own light and maybe one day, I will share with you what went down on this unforgettable night.

2040

In the 30’s, society started to stabilise and rebuild on the solid foundations of a decentralised currency. By the end of the decade, the mass majority of people were living in peace.

I could share with you hundreds of fascinating stories - but it is now time for me to finish my cold one with Szabo and Finney (he was reanimated), before we enter symbiotic fusion. In late 2039, Musk descended from the heavens; half man half machine (AI). Nobody exactly knows how this happened. Some say he found ancient, alien technology buried beneath Mars, while others say that he returned through an interdimensional worm hole after paying a visit to his home planet. He (it) took no pity on the human race, and gave the well intentioned of our species a choice - symbiotic fusion or brain harvest. We opted for the former.