We Study Billionaires – BTC251: Tech Abundance w/ Jeff Booth (Sept 10, 2025)

Hosts: Preston Pysh & Jeff Booth
Theme: Exploring the intersection of deflationary tech, Bitcoin, and global abundance

Episode Overview

This episode marks a pivotal moment for the podcast, as host Preston Pysh announces an expanded focus: beyond Bitcoin’s weekly coverage, the show will now deeply explore rapid advances in technology such as robotics, AI, and nuclear energy, and how these forces interweave with Bitcoin’s deflationary dynamics to shape the future of economies and societies. Jeff Booth, author of The Price of Tomorrow and a recurring guest, helps contextualize why understanding the exponential impact of technology is critical—and why Bitcoin remains the base layer for interpreting these changes.

Key Themes & Insights

1. Show Evolution: Expanding the Lens

• Preston Announces New Direction
  • [01:31] "I want to start covering robotics. I want to start covering AI, I want to start covering nuclear... each their own vector, kind of all pointing to this idea of a monetary revolution."
  • Sees the coming decade as one of “insane” technological upheaval, with Bitcoin as the underpinning force.
• Why Jeff Booth is the Perfect Guide
  • [01:28] “Your thesis, Jeff, of The Price of Tomorrow was a massive change... the idea of deflation in technology changed how I was looking at economics, how I was looking at Bitcoin.”

2. Deflation: The Natural State of a Free Market

• Technology Drives Prices Down
  • [06:53] Jeff Booth: “Most bitcoiners still today are not understanding that the natural state of the free market is deflation and prices should fall. If you're measuring in Bitcoin, prices are falling at the same rate as that technology is growing.”
  • Emphasizes people are trapped in fiat thinking—measuring everything in fiat terms, not appreciating Bitcoin’s real value proposition.
• Chaos From Exponential Tech
  • [06:53–12:53]
    • The exponential nature of technology is overwhelming old mental models, generating fear (e.g., job loss, AI risks).
    • Booth: “We've never lived in a global free market... it takes lots of time to understand what's happening as all of these technologies are moving exponentially, creating chaos in our brain from our previous models.”
• Systemic Consequences
  • [06:53] “If you're not in Bitcoin, all of that [deflation] has to be consolidated at that rate. And it would look like coercion, control.”

3. Societal Bifurcation: Fiat vs. Bitcoin Futures

• Dystopian vs. Abundant Paths
  • Fiat System: Coercion, centralization, control by a few tech/AI monopolies, lost freedoms.
  • Bitcoin System: Decentralized, open-source innovation, thousands of competing firms, abundance flows to holders.
  • [12:53] Booth: “If you're holding Bitcoin... all of that abundance is flowing to you.”

4. Open Source Tech & Entrepreneurial Incentives

• The Power of Open Source
  • [12:53] Pysh voices excitement about the rise of open-source operating systems and the fragility of proprietary models in the age of AI leaks and rapid replication.
  • Booth contends true open-source dominance will arise only as the free market (Bitcoin-priced) takes hold, making old funding/donation models obsolete.
  • [15:34] “Open source is fantastic and I'm a huge proponent, but it won't need to be open source [only]; everywhere, entrepreneurs are connected... if what they're giving you doesn't provide value... someone else will compete.”

5. Case Study—Tesla, Optimus, and Global Competition

• Elon Musk's Optimus Statement
  • [21:09] Pysh: “Elon Musk... says 80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus. That is totally nuts for him to come out and say that.”
  • Booth reframes: Tesla is being “repriced by Bitcoin right now,” and in the long term could be a small player among thousands as competition (from China, BYD, others) explodes. “[22:32] Over Bitcoin's term, that 80% could be a really small company with thousands of competitors.”
• Chinese Competition
  • [24:52] Pysh: Observes Chinese auto companies flooding markets with feature-rich, cheaper cars—deliberately collecting data, driving rapid learning.
  • Booth explains China’s competitive advantage isn’t just cheap labor: it’s automation, dark robotic factories, and relentless price-driven innovation.

6. Humanoid Robots and the Future of Labor

• Timeline for Robotic Penetration
  • [26:05–27:02] Pysh and Booth agree: household humanoid robots are 3–4 years out for early adopters, 7–8 years to mass scale—specialized and generalist forms will transform labor.
  • [27:02] Booth: “The confluence of all of these things is happening at a rate that if you're outside of it... the rate of this... is hard to comprehend.”
• AI Training in Synthetic Environments
  • [28:42–30:59] Pysh describes “dreamlike” AI environments (Genie 3) that simulate millions of scenarios for robotic learning overnight—raising the speed and scope of progress to unprecedented levels.

7. Agency, Meaning, and Where We Place Our Faith

• Individual Action Shapes the Future
  • [30:59–33:25] Booth: “These technologies… are impacting all of us. But… you can take your own actions. Am I making the free market stronger with my actions?”
  • “We are the supercomputer in my mind… the new information is always from our mind, outside of the information the system holds.”
• Synthetic Information Risks
  • With increasing synthetic data (AI-generated), distinguishing truth from narrative will become crucial—especially within centralized systems.

8. Centralized vs. Decentralized AI: The Geopolitical Game

• Centralized Models (US, China) vs. Agent Networks
  • [34:53–37:28] Booth: Predicts true AI power will be distributed—via decentralized, agent-based models building atop open protocols like Bitcoin and Nostr.
  • The government-led “AI arms race” may be inherently futile.
  • “With all 8 billion people adding their strengths and weaknesses… it would get better and better… couldn't be controlled.”

9. Demographics & The Fiat World’s Collapse

• Population Decline as Feedback of Fear
  • [42:27] Booth: “When standard of living rises, people have less children... People are delaying having children because they can’t afford... we’re so stuck in fear about what their kids are going to grow up in.”
• Fiat Extraction at the Root
  • All global problems “are from the debasement of money”—the root cause of declining agency, optimism, and even demographic collapse.

10. Looking Back and Forward: Booth’s Reflections

• What Booth Would Add to Price of Tomorrow
  • [46:31] “I would have gone deeper on energy. I would have gone deeper on nuclear... At that time I had a 5% probability in my mind that bitcoin would fail... now, I realize I have agency, and no one can take my agency because that agency is with tens of thousands of other nodes.”
  • [49:20] “Many people still trapped in the usd world don’t realize that the jail cell door is open—they have agency in the world they want to create. It can be one of hope, truth, and abundance.”

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Preston Pysh, Vision for the Show
  "[01:31] I want to start covering robotics... AI... nuclear... all of these technologies that seem to be each their own vector, kind of all pointing to this idea of a monetary revolution."

• Jeff Booth, On True Deflation
  "[06:53] If you're measuring in Bitcoin, prices are falling at the same rate as that technology is growing... Your model of the world should match exactly what's happening."

• Jeff Booth, On Open Source and Free Markets
  "[15:34] Every one of us, every single person on the planet has agency in that discussion... The more you do in the free market, the more you do in Bitcoin, the faster it wins."

• Jeff Booth, On Agency and Hope
  "[49:20] Many, many people still trapped in the fiat world don’t realize that the jail cell door is open—they have agency in the world they want to create... It can be one of hope, truth, and abundance."

• Preston Pysh, On Technological Acceleration
  "[30:59] The speed at which this is all taking place is beyond words, it's beyond comprehension."

• Jeff Booth, On Demographics and System Design
  "[42:27] Name one problem, any global problem... that could be solved by just that, by debasing money. Every single problem where the opposite system would provide opposite results."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:31] – Preston discusses expanding the show’s scope
• [03:22] – Booth on the inevitability of tech’s impact & Bitcoin’s role
• [06:53] – Booth unpacks technological deflation and exponential growth
• [12:53] – The importance of open source and the flaws of current incentives
• [21:09] – Musk’s “Optimus will be 80% of Tesla’s value” and global competition
• [26:05] – Anticipating robots in the home (and mass deployment)
• [28:42] – AI training in simulated worlds (Genie 3)
• [34:53] – Will humanoid robots ever have creative agency?
• [37:28] – Decentralized agents vs centralized AI (Bitcoin, Nostr)
• [41:54] – Demographics, fear, and fiat dynamics
• [46:31] – Booth’s reflections on Price of Tomorrow and the importance of agency
• [49:20] – Booth: “The jail cell door is open”

Final Thoughts

This episode is a blueprint for understanding how deflationary technological progress, particularly when combined with decentralized, hard money (Bitcoin), could radically transform social, economic, and political orders—shifting humanity from a fear-driven, zero-sum world to one of genuine abundance and agency. Both hosts emphasize the importance of personal action and open-mindedness as the world accelerates toward this unprecedented future.

Recommended: Listen to the full episode for even richer details, especially Booth’s thought-provoking illustrations and Preston’s energy in synthesizing the big picture.

Jeff Booth’s book, "The Price of Tomorrow", is referenced throughout and is recommended for listeners wanting a deep dive on the technology-driven, deflationary thesis.