Canto VII: The First Friction

In 2023 and 2024, the SEC under Gary Gensler intensified disputes over token offerings and platform activities. Allegations opened proceedings; outcomes depended on facts, arguments and rulings. Zeus discovered a field where thunderbolts could not replace careful attention to each case.

It occurred when the mortals called regulators, those hybrid beings that are half-gods half-mortals, that speak on behalf of American financial Perun, began to exert control over Olympus. The SEC sued Coinbase. It sued Binance. It sued Ripple and won partially. It sued Justin Sun of TRON. The message was clear: Olympus was regulable because it had pressure points, founders with known identity, companies with physical addresses, tokens with creators who could be sued.

Asgard’s guardians pointed to Bitcoin, treated by the SEC in that period as a commodity rather than a security. The distinction did not arise solely from Satoshi’s disappearance. The asset’s nature, distribution and structure mattered; a founder’s silence was no spell that could settle every dispute.

The distribution of nodes made control by a single power harder. Governments could still reach companies, intermediaries and custodial assets. Asgard had resilience, not universal immunity. Odin knew the difference between protecting a path and making every traveler invulnerable.

For a moment, just a moment, Zeus wished to destroy Bitcoin. Wished that Asgard would suffer the same that Olympus suffered. But then, as if feeling the wrath of his own judgment, Athena descended. And whispered to the god of thunder's ear: if you destroy Bitcoin, you destroy the very legitimacy of the idea of cryptocurrency. For Bitcoin is the proof that the concept works. Without that proof, Olympus itself collapses. And Zeus, who was wise when he was not arrogant, listened.