The only problem with this analysis is the characterization of the pet bank and wildcat banking era as a libertarian ideal rooted in the absence of state-directed organization. It was actually the opposite. This period was driven by organized state intervention in the distribution of land through legislation such as the Homestead Act, complemented by wildcat banking, farmers' and miners' cooperative insurance structures, and eventually agricultural extension programs that tied finance directly to productive enterprise — creating one of the most productive and well-capitalized agricultural industries in the world. This is precisely what distinguishes that era from modern finance and cryptocurrency, which share a conspicuous absence of any serious connection between financial instruments and underlying productive activity.

The crypto world therefore bears no meaningful resemblance to the wildcat banking of the 19th century American frontier. The deeper irony is that the wildcat banking era, properly understood, actually refutes the libertarian thesis rather than supporting it. It demonstrates that what looks like spontaneous market order was in fact underwritten by state-organized land distribution, cooperative institutional development, and the progressive tying of credit to production — which is the precise opposite of the Robinson Crusoe model of spontaneous exchange that libertarians invoke to argue that sufficiently free markets will organically generate something approximating a sophisticated legal and financial order. The historical record shows they do not — they generate the institutional infrastructure only when the state and collective organizations actively construct it.

The 19th century US was a perfect incubator for scammers and swindlers. This really accelerated after the Civil War. Alcoholism, opiate addiction, and they didn't know what a germ was. Most of the south didn't recover until the current occupants aged out decades later. 99% of people did not care about banks or know anything about banks. The US was mostly people that were speculators and hoping to get in on the natural resources commerce. Cutting trees down for money.

It was monetary chaos and so we needed a central authority . Sounds very familiar  .

* 30:00

Germany, to this day, has enclaves where the states and businesses have their own currency. This has been going on for quite some time.

I discovered this early.