Bretton Woods and the Future of Money

In Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, today’s foremost economists, investors, academics and thinkers will gather for three days in August to answer the question: What is the future of money?

article-image
share

key takeaways

  • In 1944, the most powerful countries in the world gathered in a small hotel in sleepy Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to create a new monetary system for the world
  • While the Bretton Woods system has long been discarded, today we find ourselves in a similar position as the allied nations did back then.

In 1944, the most powerful countries in the world gathered in a small hotel in sleepy Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.

World War II was drawing to a close, and the Allies had come together for one purpose:

Creating a new monetary system for a new world.

After 22 days of intense deliberation, the conference settled on a monetary system with the US dollar at the center.

The Allies also created the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to uphold global financial security and oversee fair trade practices.

While the Bretton Woods system has long been discarded, today we find ourselves in a similar position as the allied nations did back then.

Our monetary system is not working.

Governments around the world are in a race to the bottom to debase their currencies. Trade wars are breaking out. Inequality is worse than it has ever been.

The end of the US dollar’s status as reserve currency is no longer a question of if, but of when.

So now the question is: What is the future of money?

During a conference hosted by Blockworks at the very same historic hotel in Bretton Woods, today’s foremost economists, investors, academics and thinkers will gather for three days and attempt to answer that question and consider:

  • The history of money itself
  • An overview of the short- and long-term debt cycles
  • Today’s financial plumbing
  • The complicated relationship between the US and China
  • Bitcoin and the promise of a new monetary system

It has never been more important to ask these questions than it is today. Be part of the conversation and the solution. Join us for Bretton Woods: The Realignment (August 11-13, 2021). Apply to attend here.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.jpg

Research

The BitcoinOS team is the first to have developed and posted a ZK-compressed proof on the Bitcoin network. Other proof verification efforts have been limited to the Signet or testnet deployments. Their work has resulted in the development of BitSNARK, a software library for ZK-compressed fraud proofs on the Bitcoin network. The project aims to provide a horizontal scaling solution, offering a one-stop shop for teams interested in developing a rollup on Bitcoin. This approach shares similarities with the horizontal tech stack scaling in other ecosystems like Cosmos and Optimism, particularly in its focus on simplified verification, bridging standards, and lightweight interoperability.

/

article-image

A16z’s State of Crypto report shows that DeFi has the largest number of daily active addresses, with stablecoins following closely behind

article-image

G2 is delivering real-world performance breakthroughs at 50-100 Mgas/s, Conduit says

article-image

World Liberty Financial’s token sale debuted just as an absurd AI-fueled memecoin captured crypto’s attention

article-image

Coinbase hired History Associates in 2023 to assist in retrieving records from the SEC and FDIC

article-image

Hours after pledging to support Black men’s rights to safely invest in crypto, VP Harris’s Monday night speech mentioned blockchain zero times