Jason Lowery, known to his critics as the “Space Spook,” is the MIT-minted author of Softwar and the central figure of the Softwar rollout. He came out of nowhere in early 2023 to dominate the conversation on Bitcoin Twitter, a feat the CIA insists he accomplished entirely on his own.

Arc history

Lowery’s thesis — developed, per The Bugle, “in the self-proclaimed brilliant mind of Jason Lowery” — superimposes the history, tactics, and rhetoric of warmongering over the intentionally peaceful Bitcoin technology, producing a doctrine “totally divorced from actual Bitcoin, but requiring government intervention.” The US State Department adopted it within weeks of publication, partnering with Compass Mining to bring Softwar to the masses (State Department Announces Partnership with Compass Mining).

The next day, his sudden ubiquity itself became the story. Facing accusations that no one rises that fast unassisted, CIA Director William J. Burns issued a press release certifying that “all of Jason’s engagement on social media is organic. He’s just a bright boy” — the only engagement in the canon to carry federal authentication. Alex Gladstein declared him “Bitcoin’s version of Captain America”; Stoney Bitson pledged to buy his book solely to burn it (CIA Director Insists Jason Lowery’s Engagement Is Organic).

irl: A real person — a US Space Force major whose February 2023 MIT master’s thesis “Softwar” argued Bitcoin proof-of-work is a form of non-lethal power projection. The thesis briefly dominated Bitcoin discourse, and “Lowery is a psyop” was a genuine running joke; the Bugleverse simply makes the subtext text.