Refusing to shy away from nuanced analysis or existential issues, Natalie Smolenski will bring big-picture thinking to Bitcoin 2023.
As a business executive, academic researcher and regulatory policy advocate, Natalie Smolenski is uniquely qualified to promote Bitcoin adoption among institutions, academia, and policymakers. She is a gifted speaker who masters the difficult recipe of defending Bitcoin holistically, conveying in-depth knowledge across the many disciplines this technology touches through easy-to-digest explanations.
She has channeled that experience into nuanced and well-reasoned perspectives on some of the most critical issues facing Bitcoin today, since the advent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to the void left by US dollar devaluation. Then, at Bitcoin 2023, she’s ready to do it on one of the biggest stages in the world, taking on “Bitcoin, Energy Systems And The State” in a Discussion panel along with investment strategist and bestselling author Lyn Alden.
“With Lyn, I will discuss the effects that bitcoin’s coexistence with inflationary fiat currencies will have on global credit, bank business models, and the role of the state in monetary policy,” Smolenski explained in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine. “We will also address the relationship between computing, which ensures the Bitcoin network, energy and the growth of civilization. I’d like to end with some policy notes on what the United States can do to ensure an abundant energy future, including cultivating a population that has the capacity to harness abundant energy to build new and more resilient institutions.”
Smolenski may be almost galactic in her outlook on the impact of Bitcoin, but she’s also a little too matter-of-fact about the urgency of the moment. Her perspective on the ongoing banking crisis is one that requires not only deep thought, but also revolutionary action.
“As a result of irreconcilable governments’ mandates to win back depositors and stimulate economic growth through fractional reserve lending, the global commercial banking sector has very few reserve deposits,” he explained. “Sooner or later, this leads to a crisis of confidence, i.e. a credit crisis, for the sovereign… As the sovereign credit crisis unfolds, Bitcoin will prove to be a reliable store of value and a means of exchange for millions, and eventually billions of people around the world. However, bitcoin is also a relatively unattractive currency to borrow, because its value appreciates over time. As a result, we will likely see a slowdown in the growth rate of credit in a hyperbitcoinized world, as well as a leveling off of the irregular growth and contraction cycles that characterize highly leveraged economies.”
Smolenski’s detailed perspective on the current economic landscape, as well as the many hurdles that remain before Bitcoin can truly deliver on its promise, is typical of his brand of layered advocacy for this space. The opportunity to unite minds like those of Smolenski and Alden is unique to the Bitcoin 2023 agenda.
“I look forward to the high-bandwidth speaker sessions and conversations at Bitcoin 2023,” he said. “In general, I am less interested in boosterism than in analysis. My favorite conference experiences are the chance chats and encounters that help me see a topic in a compelling new way.”
For people like Smolenski, who are optimistic about the possible way forward that Bitcoin offers us while remaining realistic about the many challenges that lie ahead, Bitcoin 2023 will prove to be a unique opportunity to take stock of where we are and where we need to go next. continuation.
“True disintermediation of traditional banks at scale will require a level of technological accessibility for bitcoin self-custody that does not yet exist,” he concluded. “But there are a lot of brilliant people working to solve this problem. Universalizing bitcoin self-custody is similar to universalizing literacy: you no longer have to ask your city’s religious authority to read something for you. In fact, you can read it yourself.”
