Joel Bomgar – A Tale of Two Systems: Bitcoin Instead of Dollars | BTC Prague 2025 Keynote

At BTC Prague, I set out to explain Bitcoin in the clearest, most straightforward way possible — something you could share with anyone encountering it for the first time. What it comes down to is a tale of two systems: one built on politics and broken promises, and one built on math and hard limits.

Money Is a System, Not Just a Number

We use money because it makes trading easier. But money is more than just a number in your pocket — it’s a monetary system. Think of it as a spreadsheet tracking two things: who owns what, and the total amount of money in existence. Your real purchasing power is your money divided by the total supply. When that total goes up, your slice gets smaller.

The Dollar’s Dirty Secret

The US dollar system currently holds $22 trillion in circulation. Back in the 1960s, it was $286 billion. That’s a 75x increase — roughly 7% more dollars printed out of thin air every single year. The result? A Big Mac costs 12 times more than in 1968. Campbell’s soup is up 10x. And a typical hour of work buys you about half as much as it did in 1975. In the last 90 years, the dollar has lost 95% of its purchasing power.

The Federal Reserve can literally double-click that supply number whenever it wants. Politicians always find excuses to spend more, and central banks are happy to oblige. The gold standard was supposed to prevent this — but every time it’s been tried, governments printed too much and broke the promise. The US did exactly that in 1971.

And if you think other currencies are better — they’re not. The Venezuelan bolivar, Argentinian peso, and Turkish lira are down 92–99% on top of the dollar’s losses. Even the euro and British pound have shed an additional 20–25%.

Bitcoin: A Better System

Bitcoin is a monetary system that runs on software. It functions like a spreadsheet tracking who owns what — but with one critical difference: the total supply is hard-capped at 21 million coins, forever. Over 100,000 Bitcoin nodes worldwide each hold an identical copy of that ledger, and every single one enforces that cap. If you try to change the software to allow more, you get kicked off the network.

The US dollar is your money divided by infinity. Bitcoin is your money divided by 21 million. No politician, no central banker, no Jerome Powell can change that.

What About Volatility?

Yes, Bitcoin is volatile. But we’re still early — similar to the early days of the internet or online banking. Bitcoin is currently a small boat in a big ocean. As adoption grows, it becomes a bigger ship. Meanwhile, on any rolling three-year basis, Bitcoin has been up almost 100% of the time. The volatility is your friend — it moves in your favor over time.

Bitcoin in the Real World: Prosper

I’m president of Prosper, the world’s first free private city, built on the island of Roatán in Honduras. Our jurisdiction was the first in the world where Bitcoin operates effectively as legal tender. Today, you can buy a home, rent an apartment, pay for school, grab coffee, go scuba diving, or pay residency fees — all in Bitcoin. We’ve received investment and endorsements from Tim Draper, Brian Armstrong, and others who believe in what we’re building.

We’re now launching Orangeville, a Bitcoin-only city district where Bitcoin is the exclusive currency, designed as a hub for opportunity and real-world action. Decentralized currency combined with decentralized governance — that’s the vision. And it’s not just an idea. It’s happening right now.

Bitcoin is a better system. Bitcoin is better money. I’m deeply grateful for what it has meant for my life, for Prosper,