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For over a decade, Jeff Booth has been raising awareness about the challenges of combining technological advancement with a system heavily reliant on debt. The Vancouver-based entrepreneur, and author of “The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is Key to an Abundant Future,” argues that our current financial system is fundamentally flawed. He believes it hinders the natural progress of innovation and prevents its benefits from being shared equitably.
“Deflation is the natural order of a free market,” Booth emphasized early in our discussion.
“Competition to provide value drives us to offer more for less. Technological advancements should lead to rapidly decreasing prices. However, a debt-based system, which inherently requires continuous expansion, directly opposes this natural process.”
Booth, who formerly spearheaded the tech company BuildDirect for nearly two decades and currently manages the venture firm Ego Death Capital, has been recognized by Goldman Sachs as one of their 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.
For several years, he has dedicated his efforts to speaking and investing around a core idea: a hopeful future is possible. To achieve this, we need to adopt a different set of incentives.
The Illusion of Economic Stability
Global economic indicators are signaling increasing instability. The U.S. unemployment rate has edged up to 4.1%, business bankruptcies are at a peak unseen since 2020, and credit card delinquency rates have soared past levels seen before the pandemic. Simultaneously, real wages have stagnated while global debt has surpassed a staggering $337 trillion this year, as reported by the Institute of International Finance.
Despite this, prices continue their upward trajectory. The escalating cost of living in the U.S. and Europe has forced a large number of households to rely on short-term borrowing. Booth argues that this situation is an inherent consequence of the system itself. He explains:
“When you approach a bank for a loan, the bank creates the money; it’s effectively lent into existence. You then pay interest on that debt, creating a system that demands continuous monetary growth and manipulation. If deflation were to occur within a debt-based system, prices would decline, causing a reset and collapse of everything built on that debt.”
Booth argues that we have never truly experienced a free market, but rather various forms of controlled economies masquerading under different ideologies.
“Communism, capitalism, socialism – they are all different forms of control. We have yet to witness a genuine free market.”
Bitcoin: A Solution
For Booth, Bitcoin represents the first authentic global free market, resistant to manipulation. He argues:
“An open, permissionless, decentralized, and secure protocol, limited by energy and impervious to governmental interference, perfectly describes the first truly free market ever established.”
He states that Bitcoin “reprices the entire world” by operating independently of debt and compounding credit. Bitcoin’s scarcity-driven, deflationary model is causing global assets to steadily lose value in comparison, with real estate being a prime example. While house prices may appear to be increasing in fiat currency terms, they are becoming significantly more affordable when priced in BTC.
“If my house was worth 300 Bitcoin five years ago and is now worth 12 Bitcoin, prices are perpetually declining in Bitcoin terms. It’s not that the value of my house has increased; it’s that the currency in which it’s priced has decreased in value.”
This perspective shift underscores why Booth advises people not only to purchase Bitcoin but also to invest their time in it. To those who believe it’s too late to start accumulating Bitcoin, he states, “We’re incredibly early in the game,” with a smile.
“Learn about Bitcoin and truly understand its fundamentals. Then, acquire it, use it for transactions, and dedicate your time to it. You’ll see a reflection of the world you want to create, rather than contributing to the world you fear.”
This worldview is counterintuitive in an era defined by anxiety.
Fear and Control Mechanisms
Booth believes that our collective fears, whether related to inflation, artificial intelligence, or geopolitical instability, are symptoms of being trapped in a system that is rigged. He believes those in power have a vested interest in perpetuating a cycle of uncertainty and fear.
“Monopolies can only thrive through control systems, and monopolies favor regulation. Who benefits from people fearing AI? The large AI companies, because prices are then prevented from falling to their lowest possible production cost.”
In a genuinely competitive market, prices naturally decrease until they align with the actual cost of production. Any entity attempting to charge more will be quickly outcompeted until prices reach the lowest sustainable level.
Booth notes that the cost of generating an additional line of code is zero. Therefore, when AI becomes freely available, its abundance will benefit everyone, provided governments cannot manipulate the currency.
He argues that under a Bitcoin standard, technological deflation would finally benefit society at large, rather than only a select few monopolistic entities.
“AI, robotics, and Bitcoin have a synergistic relationship. They accelerate each other. In such an environment, everyone becomes wealthier, even without active effort.”
The apparent paradox is that while economic anxiety is growing, Booth is filled with optimism. He laughs:
“I am exceedingly optimistic. I am surrounded by builders who are actively contributing to this future every day. Witnessing the rate at which this transformation is expanding makes it difficult not to be extremely optimistic.”
The Power to Choose
Booth’s primary message revolves around individual agency. He emphasizes that individuals possess more power than they realize.
“You, as an individual, have agency. Run a node. Transact in Bitcoin. You don’t need to seek permission or wait for anyone’s approval. You can simply take action.”
In a world where individual freedoms are eroding daily, I asked about his perspective on the increasing prevalence of digital IDs, such as those proposed by the UK or Europe’s CBDC. He highlights emerging technologies like Nostr, a decentralized social protocol, and Fedi, a privacy-focused platform that enables anyone to establish their own digital federation.
“That’s why I’ve left Twitter. I’m now on Nostr. It cannot be censored. My voice cannot be silenced on Nostr. And Fedi cannot be blocked. It’s currently being utilized in numerous authoritarian nations as a life-saving technology and is already available.”
Ego Death Capital invested in Fedi three and a half years ago, anticipating the inevitability of a “centralized system trap,” and recognizing the need for this technology to exist beforehand.
Ego Death
The name of his venture firm, Ego Death Capital, provides insight into his core philosophy.
“It seemed to capture what Bitcoin will ultimately do to everyone. There’s a single rule in Bitcoin: don’t attempt to cheat it, as you will only cheat yourself.”
Booth’s journey toward this understanding was gradual. He felt like a hypocrite when he realized that all of his efforts were still focused on the fiat world, despite understanding Bitcoin’s virtues.
“I realized that 90% of my time was spent reinforcing the system I was trying to dismantle. Ego Death Capital was founded to resolve this paradox, allowing me to dedicate my time to the system I wanted to support.”
He encourages other entrepreneurs, creators, and educators to follow suit:
“Everyone is trapped in a cycle of pain and fear, endlessly scrolling through social media. However, every problem in that system presents an opportunity to provide solutions in the new one. You can generate exceptional wealth by delivering value, which is the essence of a free market.”
A Future of Abundance
Booth’s thesis that we should embrace technology-driven deflation, not fear it, is more relevant and optimistic than ever. The International Labour Organization reports that global youth unemployment is nearly 13%, and Goldman Sachs cautions that automation could displace 300 million full-time jobs by 2030. However, Booth envisions a future of abundance beyond this transformation.
“The same AI that some fear will destroy us will, in reality, create a life of unimaginable abundance. If prices decrease faster than wages, everyone’s wealth increases. But this can only occur within a system that is resistant to manipulation: a free market.”
When I asked Booth if he believes we’ll live to see the world he envisions, if it will become reality in our lifetimes, he immediately responded with enthusiasm:
“I already see it. It’s the world I live in. It reminds me of the William Gibson quote: ‘The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.’ You can choose to live in this world today. The more you embrace it, the more it will reflect back at you.”