Neha Narula

I work on scaling systems and platforms for the internet. Director of Digital Currency @medialab, BoD @blocks. PhD from @MIT_CSAIL, formerly @digg, @google.

[Neha Narula @neha]

@itsreallyvivek had this posted above my desk in grad school:

[Neha Narula @neha]

@itsreallyvivek this is great. thanks!

[Neha Narula @neha]

@sirrice 😢

[Isabel Foxen Duke⚡️ @isabelfoxenduke]

BITCOIN RAILS #62: BITCOIN'S 3 BIGGEST CHALLENGES | with @neha Director of Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) @MIT

🔗 YOUTUBE: https://t.co/nswGm6QUQc
🌱 SPOTIFY: https://t.co/sVca75jLgt

Neha Narula is the Director of the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, where she focuses on Bitcoin research and the broader design tradeoffs of decentralized money systems.

Her work often centers on what Bitcoin gets right—and where it runs into hard limits—especially around scaling, decentralization, and how systems behave as global demand increases.

In this interview, Neha and I explore longer-term risks to Bitcoin—including advancements in quantum computing and the implications of a diminishing block subsidy—as well as the ongoing challenge of scaling Bitcoin without losing access to self-custody.

A thoughtful conversation on how Bitcoin may change in the coming years, we also explore its social and governance dynamics—including tensions within the development community over protocol changes, scaling philosophies, and the future direction of the system.

This episode of Bitcoin Rails is brought to you by:

LayerTwo Labs @LayerTwoLabs — developing research, software, and technologies for scaling Bitcoin via the integration of Drivechains (BIP 300/301)

Hashi on @SuiNetwork — a primitive for executing Bitcoin Defi transactions, without having to trust a federated bridge or other centralized entity

BitBox @BitBoxSwiss— an open-source Bitcoin-only hardware wallet, with smooth UX and no compromises on security. Check out Bitbox [dot] swiss and use code BITCOINRAILS to get a discount

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:17 Neha’s Origins
02:26 Bitcoin to MIT
04:40 Media Lab Culture and Mission
11:34 CBDCs as Digital Cash Debate
24:42 Funding Model and Bitcoin Security Budget
29:55 Reorg Risk and Quantum Computing
32:14 Bitcoin Dev Funding Map
42:49 Governance and Corporate Stakes
50:23 Quantum Tradeoffs Framework
56:02 Post Quantum Proposals
58:59 Prioritize PQ Transactions
01:00:54 Satoshi Coins Debate
01:02:12 Mining Incentives And Price
01:08:08 Corporate Funding And Governance
01:10:54 Scaling Self Custody And L2s
01:20:30 Bitcoin Kernel And Wrap Up

[Neha Narula @neha]

@_icy_m @isabelfoxenduke do you think that many people can hold Bitcoin? I am not sure the technology supports that.

Would gold still have its narrative if so many people couldn't hold it in this way?

[Neha Narula @neha]

@_icy_m @isabelfoxenduke how many individuals have gold jewelry or coins?

[Neha Narula @neha]

@Nicolas_Colin @CurrenPower @mariekeflament thanks for having me! great takeaways

[Nicolas Colin @Nicolas_Colin]

.@neha Narula trained as a software engineer and now heads the Digital Currency Initiative at MIT. The latest @CurrenPower episode with her and @mariekeflament covers a lot of ground. Four things I wanted to highlight.

1️⃣ Programmability vs control. Programmable money executes automatically. What Neha calls "restricted money" can only be spent on certain things — think SNAP benefits / food stamps for instance.

The fear that killed CBDC research in the US was the idea that government money could become conditional money. That fear is now in the politics of every country still considering a retail CBDC.

(And it applies to stablecoins too. Tether freezing $500M of USDT at the US government's request shows where the control actually sits.)

2️⃣ CBDCs and stablecoins are less different than the debate suggests. A stablecoin backed by a central bank balance sheet is effectively a wholesale CBDC wrapped by the private sector. What matters is the design: what is it backed by, who can redeem, what happens in bankruptcy. The label is secondary.

3️⃣ Quantum. Bitcoin's cryptography will eventually be vulnerable. The technical path to post-quantum resistance exists. The hard problem is coordination — no CEO to mandate a migration, Satoshi's coins may be permanently inaccessible, and parts of the community do not accept the premise.

Neha's view: build the signature scheme, enable migration, defer the rest until a quantum computer is actually close.

4️⃣ Geopolitics. Iran's reported willingness to accept payments in stablecoins and Bitcoin signals that these instruments now matter at the level of nation states working around sanctions. That is a story about the limits of dollar infrastructure and who controls the pipes.

🎙 Full episode and transcript here: https://t.co/UZmQteKFMN

[Neha Narula @neha]

This was a really interesting, wide-ranging conversation. Thank you to @mariekeflament and @Nicolas_Colin for having me!

[Marieke @mariekeflament]

New podcast on @CurrenPower: we sat down with @neha for an in-depth conversation on CBDCs, Stablecoins, Privacy, Quantum and Geopolitics outlook.

Neha has a unique ability to explain very clearly complex concepts - a must listen!

https://t.co/g8T3ATwJZZ

[Neha Narula @neha]

@robin_linus well, when CLARITY passes, it will no longer be "unregulated" and instead this approach will be codified into law

[Neha Narula @neha]

I'm giving a talk at the Media Lab today at 4 PM ET titled Money, Power, and Machines: Designing the Future of Finance for People (E14-633)

If you want to join, come 5 minutes early to 75 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA, or if not local email me for the zoom link!

[Neha Narula @neha]

"the model proved a result that in my assessment would have made a perfectly reasonable chapter in a [math] PhD thesis. It did this in a total of a couple of hours, with a few prompts from me that contained no mathematical input whatsoever."

[Timothy Gowers @wtgowers @wtgowers]

I've recently got in on the act of getting AI to solve open problems in mathematics. More precisely, I gave some questions asked by Melvyn Nathanson to ChatGPT 5.5 Pro, to which I have been given access, and it answered them. 🧵

[Neha Narula @neha]

@lopp The risk of miners undercutting to re-steal quantum-vulnerable coins is definitely something this work could help illuminate. I think it fits in pretty cleanly.

[Neha Narula @neha]

"The only funding model I've seen work [for open source] is the most ancient one, which is patronage."

[Neha Narula @neha]

@NoelleInMadrid fwiw i think we should be careful about how we name these things since they are not the same as fed-connected dollars and come with different risks. here the risk is a feature not a bug (for the US)

[Neha Narula @neha]

How is it possible for Iran to collect dollars?

[Iran International English @IranIntl_En]

The Central Bank of Iran has opened four accounts in rials, yuan, US dollars, and euros to receive toll payments collected by the Revolutionary Guard's Navy, a senior lawmaker said on Monday.

Parliament will move to make the toll system binding law at its first session by approving a bill titled “Hormuz Strait Security Plan,” providing “a sustainable source of revenue for the country,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi said.

"We hope that with the final approval of digital currency infrastructure and requiring countries to pay tolls in rials, we will see an unprecedented strengthening of the national currency in international transactions," he added.
https://t.co/dINTTP6Oon

[Neha Narula @neha]

@NoelleInMadrid thanks, super helpful. I didn't appreciate the swapping invoices idea. wonder if things will pop up making this easier to do at scale (over-the-counter invoice-trading marketplaces). or maybe they already exist!

[Neha Narula @neha]

@NoelleInMadrid what are the offshore dollars then? if they're not bank accounts with nonsanctioned banks?

[Neha Narula @neha]

@izakaminska this makes me appreciate something about money laundering: CBI never needs to take custody of the payment, they can just instruct a payer to pay for goods they want. both payer and payee might be outside the sanctions dragnet. it's all out of band messaging so hard to catch

[Neha Narula @neha]

h/t @izakaminska