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Neha Narula, Director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, joined Bloomberg’s Crypto this week to reflect on the recent $19 billion wipeout in digital assets—now the largest crypto liquidation event on record.
“Crypto is still a little bit of the Wild West,” Narula told host Scarlet Fu. “But what’s impressive is that the on-chain systems kept working. No bailouts. No rollbacks.”
Narula drew a clear line between centralized exchanges, which experienced major disruptions, and decentralized protocols, which continued to operate as designed. The crash was painful for many, she acknowledged, but the core infrastructure proved remarkably resilient.
Still, she was quick to point out that resilience isn’t enough. “I’d love to see more focus on users and value-driving use cases, rather than just speculation,” she said.
The conversation turned to stablecoins, where Narula highlighted a key challenge: the disconnect between stablecoin issuers and everyday users. While a select group can redeem stablecoins directly for dollars, most people can only trade them on secondary markets—where the value can drop below one dollar in times of stress.
We need to be honest about the risks. Only then can we build better systems that actually protect people.
Narula’s perspective reflects her broader work at the Media Lab, where the Digital Currency Initiative explores how to design financial infrastructure that’s more transparent, secure, and accessible. The goal isn’t just to make crypto systems more technically robust—it’s to ensure they serve real people in meaningful ways.
With roles on the board of Block and the Innovation Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Narula brings both academic insight and practical experience to some of the most important conversations shaping the future of digital finance.