Excerpt
I first traveled to Zimbabwe because I wanted to understand something that many Bitcoiners talked about but few had actually witnessed firsthand: what monetary failure does to real people.
Over the past years, Zimbabwe has taught me far more than I expected – not only about inflation and currency collapse, but about power, human agency, and the fragile relationship between money and freedom.
In this talk at bitcoin++ Vienna, I connect my experiences in Zimbabwe with a broader question:
What happens when the systems that govern money, communication, and information become closed, opaque, and controlled by a small group of people?
I argue that open money and open-source technology are not just technical innovations. They are essential building blocks for open societies.
Topics include:
• Hyperinflation and everyday life in Zimbabwe
• Why closed monetary systems concentrate power
• Bitcoin as a tool for human agency
• Nostr and the rise of freedom technology
• Open systems versus closed power structures
• Why freedom requires infrastructure
Recorded at bitcoin++ Vienna 2026.
