A Brief History of Breadcoin

established 2011

The idea for Breadcoin was born in the aftermath of the financial crisis by Breadcoin Founder and PhD economist, Scott Borger. In 2011, Scott was at weekly breakfast with John Gillis, a dear friend who was unhoused at that time. John asked, “How do you meet the world’s needs when the needs are greatest?” Scott and John had been talking about how nonprofits and governments had to cut their budgets and fewer resources were available to the most marginalized in our society even though the need for assistance was growing exponentially. Scott’s initial response to John was a ‘countercyclical asset’. However, during the following week, while preparing to teach his class on Global Economics at Georgetown University, the lecture included a discussion of investing in economies with appreciating currencies. It was during the preparation for this class that Scott first conceived of an alternative payment system backed by assets in the community.

We minted additional coins in 2017, at which time Breadcoins were made available for purchase online. In 2017, William Spence joined the all-volunteer Breadcoin team to expand the use of the token throughout DC. During 2017, Breadcoin organized as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the founding board consisting of Scott Borger, Cary Umhau, William Spence, and Greg Ewing. The nonprofit status demonstrates to the community that the token is for the community’s benefit.

In 2013, Scott Borger and co-founder Cary Umhau had discussions about how to feed the community. Scott believed handing out sandwiches weren’t dignifying to the individual, but he’d love to feed people if they could sit at tables together. From that conversation, Scott and Cary inspired others to join them as they began hosting tables in parks where all were welcome at beautifully set tables. From these table events, in 2015, Borger imagined a community meal token accepted at local restaurants to ensure everyone could have a seat at the table. The name “Breadcoin” was coined to acknowledge a store of value and “bread” would represent its basic unit of account. The physical token was designed by Ben Kolesar in 2015.

2018 and 2019 saw additional growth, media coverage, and the inception of a membership model whereby donors who give on a monthly recurring basis fund the coins that are distributed by neighborhood teams tasked with building relationships with vendors and nonprofits in geographical areas so that people can be linked, efficient, and mutually encouraging. Breadcoin grew exponentially during the pandemic. At the beginning of 2020, Breadcoin had 11 participating vendors. By the end of 2021, Breadcoin launched in a new city – Baltimore. – and grew the number of participating vendors to 60.

In 2016, our first vendor was Mission Muffins, a “ready to work” program of the Central Union Mission homeless shelter, located near Union Station in Washington, DC. Soon thereafter we began steadily moving into additional neighborhoods.

Early participants in the Breadcoin project purchased a food trailer which was leased to the Central Union Mission for use by Mission Muffins, substantially increasing their four-season capacity and product-line capabilities.

That lease was paid back with interest, in three years, in Breadcoins to the investors who then gave again to individuals and nonprofits, ensuring more people were fed.

In early 2022, Breadcoin began its expansion phase when we expanded to a new city – Harrisburg, PA – to extend the program into smaller cities and rural communities. In early 2023, we expanded to Tampa, Florida through a generous donation of the Gloria Dei Foundation. We receive requests from across the country to expand into various cities and towns. As we expand our capacity, we will do exactly that. Breadcoin has 135+ participating vendors in four states (FL, MD, PA, VA) and the District of Columbia.