Dr. Ioni Appelberg says Bitcoin reprograms the mind

"Money is a mental operating system, just like language," Dr. Ioni Appelberg told The Crypto Radio at Bitcoin FilmFest 2025.

For Appelberg, a Swedish medical doctor with a background in emergency care and psychiatry, Bitcoin is far more than a financial innovation – it’s a way to reprogram how we think, plan, and interact as a society. He credits Bitcoin with giving him new clarity of purpose, blending science, philosophy, and personal conviction.

"Bitcoin means to me... it is the reason why I wake up in the morning," he said.

Rethinking money – and its impact on behavior

For Appelberg, fiat currency is not just flawed – it’s shaping society in destructive ways. He sees inflation as a silent force that distorts long-term thinking and erodes personal responsibility.

"When money is debased very rapidly, you can go to Venezuela, for example, and ask anybody on the street, 'Do you save for the future?' And they will not even understand what you mean."

In a world where money loses value by design, people are pushed into a cycle of short-term consumption. The result, he argues, is a culture that discourages saving, planning, and building for the future.

This leads him to the economic principle of time preference – the degree to which individuals value present goods over future ones. A low time preference, often cited by Bitcoin proponents, means prioritizing long-term outcomes and delaying gratification.

Appelberg believes Bitcoin naturally fosters this mindset. Unlike fiat money, Bitcoin’s fixed supply can’t be inflated away. He sees it as a tool for rebuilding the social fabric around responsibility, stewardship, and vision.

"We are stealing from unborn generations, and this is a crime against humanity," he warned.

Hyperinflation in Venezuela has made long-term saving almost unthinkable for many. Photo: Unsplash / Jorge Salvador

From civilization to the cosmos

Appelberg’s thinking spans today’s problems and tomorrow’s possibilities. He references the Kardashev scale – a theoretical framework measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on energy use.

Humanity is currently estimated to be at around 0.6 on the scale. To reach the next level, Appelberg explained, we’d need to increase our energy output by a factor of 10,000. He sees Bitcoin, counterintuitively, as part of that progression – a system that encourages energy abundance rather than scarcity.

"The internet freed information. What the internet does for information, Bitcoin does for value."

He also envisions how decentralized systems could function beyond Earth – on Mars colonies or interplanetary missions – where syncing transactions across vast distances poses unique challenges. Confirming blocks over millions of kilometers would require rethinking how we design networks for space.

“We are going to need to use money in space,” Appelberg said. “We are right at that transitional point where we’re becoming a spacefaring civilization in the true sense of the word.”

He imagines bases and infrastructure on Mars, even if syncing with Earth-based networks poses challenges. “They’re going to be secondhand citizens in the Bitcoin community, because they will not be able to sync with the blockchain like the rest of us,” he explained. “But they’re not really beyond the hash horizon. So we can still use Bitcoin in space.”

As Carl Sagan once said, Appelberg added, “we’re standing on the shores of the cosmos, and the waters are looking inviting.”

Dr Ioni Appelberg sees space not as beyond reach, but as the next frontier for global systems. Photo: Unsplash / Doug Walters

Freedom, infrastructure, and peaceful change

Bitcoin’s permissionless nature is central to Appelberg’s ethical argument. “Of course, criminals are going to use Bitcoin. Why wouldn’t they?” he says, but he draws a sharp distinction: “Bitcoin is opt-in. Fiat is opt-out – and it’s even difficult to opt out, because you still have to pay taxes in it.”

For Appelberg, the challenge isn’t just technical – it’s social conditioning. “The Bitcoin system is actually much, much easier than the fiat system, but we’re born into the fiat system, and we don’t have a choice.”

What’s needed, he emphasizes, is infrastructure that makes opting in effortless. “We need to build. We need to make it easy. We need to have everybody have their own node on their phone without having to think about it.”

Despite the obstacles, Appelberg remains optimistic. “We need to have a revolution. It is a peaceful revolution, and it’s happening organically.” Looking ahead, he envisions simpler tools and more people able to “live on a Bitcoin standard” in daily life.

A slow transition by necessity

At the same time, he’s clear that adoption should unfold gradually. “I don’t want a rapid transition," he said, "because if we see a rapid transition that could harm the Bitcoin network, it could harm the society by upending the fiat system which our society is currently built on.”

He envisions Bitcoin and fiat coexisting for years, perhaps decades, as trust in fiat slowly erodes. In this parallel system, Bitcoin becomes less a disruptor and more a fallback. “This is the greatest transition of wealth in human history.”

Not everyone agrees. Critics point to volatility, energy demands, and scalability as serious hurdles. But Appelberg sees them as short-term challenges, not structural flaws.

Dr Ioni Appelberg talks to The Crypto Radio's Bo Jablonski about philosophy, ethics, and cosmic ambition

Thinking in Bitcoin: final money, final shift

One of Appelberg’s most hopeful messages is for those intimidated by the technology. “You absolutely don’t have to understand how it works at that technical level,” he said.

For him, the responsibility lies with developers to make the system user-friendly – but for the average person, simply opting in begins to reshape how they think about money, responsibility, and the future. “Bitcoin unlocks suppressed human potential.”

This shift, in Appelberg’s view, goes far beyond convenience or investment. He sees it as the endpoint of monetary evolution.
“Bitcoin is final money. It is the money that we’re going to use for as long as we are a civilization based on Earth.”

To Appelberg, this isn’t just a belief – it’s a rational conclusion grounded in Bitcoin’s properties: fixed supply, neutrality, and sovereignty. He frames it as a path not only to financial change but to a society more aligned with long-term thinking, individual freedom, and planetary-scale coordination.