Bitcoin started as a rebellious, anti-establishment technology. In many parts of the world, and for many people, it remains exactly that. 

At the same time, however, there is a wave of traditionalists and institutional players moving into the space. 

Are they buying into the revolution, or are they trying to capture value while fitting the disruption into a box that maintains the current power structure they lead? 

Those are the key questions explored by Meltem Demirors in her new essay “Unintended Architecture.” The piece is our selection for this week’s “Long Reads Sunday.”