Learn more about BPI Senior Fellow Sarah Kreps in the latest installment of our Meet the Fellows series.
What do you do for work?
I'm a professor at Cornell University, where I direct our Tech Policy Institute.
How did you wind up in your current role?
I've worked with emerging technologies since my days as an active duty officer in the United States Air Force. I then did a PhD in political science. My research has blended these worlds of technology, national security, and political science. The Tech Policy Institute takes that work further and helps policymakers and industry navigate policy questions related to new technologies.
How did you become interested in researching Bitcoin?
I credit Alex Gladstein from the Human Rights Foundation with helping me see bridges between my work and Bitcoin. In 2018, I published a book called Taxing Wars: The American Way of War Finance and the Decline of Democracy. In the book, I observed that the United States had increasingly shifted from tax-funded wars to deficit-financed conflicts, reducing the immediate economic burden on citizens and weakening democratic accountability. Historically, war taxes forced public debate and scrutiny, but modern financing methods—such as borrowing and financial opacity—have enabled prolonged military engagements with little public resistance. I argued that this shift erodes democratic checks on war-making, allowing governments to wage conflicts with less oversight and accountability.
Alex pointed out the Bitcoin peace argument, which is that decentralized, sound money systems—like Bitcoin—could prevent governments from financing wars through inflation and unchecked debt, much like I critiqued in Taxing Wars. By making military spending more transparent and directly tied to available resources rather than limitless borrowing, Bitcoin could reintroduce the financial constraints that once acted as a democratic safeguard against endless wars. In this way, both Taxing Wars and Bitcoin peace arguments highlight how monetary policy shapes war-making, with one critiquing its decline and the other proposing a financial structure to restore accountability.
Since initially making those connections between my earlier work and Bitcoin, I've continued to work not just in the space of how Bitcoin versus debt/fiat-funded wars could promote peace through transparency, but also in the ways that Bitcoin can promote individual freedoms in non-democratic countries. Right now I have a big project that is looking at Bitcoin uptake in non-democracies around the world and have assembled a team to conduct dozens of interviews to understand qualitatively how Bitcoin is helping individuals with financial freedom.
What are your most significant intellectual interests aside from Bitcoin?
I have other projects that look at the intersection of AI and individual freedom and the national security implications of semiconductor supply chain interdependence.
How have your views on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency broadly changed over time?
I've gone from thinking about the US use case to thinking about how individuals in other countries use and rely on Bitcoin, which my research is showing to be different in important ways. In non-democracies, individuals use Bitcoin to circumvent capital controls, access global markets, and protect their wealth from government seizure or hyperinflation. By talking to individuals and traveling to countries where individuals use Bitcoin to store and transfer value without relying on state-controlled financial institutions, I can see how Bitcoin is a vital tool in authoritarian regimes where banks can freeze assets or restrict transactions. For dissidents, activists, and those in economically unstable regions, Bitcoin offers a censorship-resistant financial alternative that enables remittances, commerce, and savings beyond government reach.
What misconception about Bitcoin do you hear most from your colleagues?
A colleague recently asked me, "doesn't Bitcoin mining contribute to climate change?"
What misconception about Bitcoin or the subject of your research do you hear most from Bitcoin enthusiasts?
One misconception (though not common) among Bitcoin enthusiasts is that Bitcoin can eliminate government-controlled monetary systems. While Bitcoin introduces greater financial transparency and constraints on inflationary spending, states still have powerful tools—like taxation, legal enforcement, and alternative financial instruments—to sustain their policies. Relatedly, some Bitcoin advocates also underestimate the adaptability of governments, which have historically found ways to co-opt or regulate financial innovations rather than being displaced by them.
What are your hopes for the future of BPI?
BPI is doing an incredible job bringing evidence-based research into mainstream policy conversations. It's done this both through the rigor of the research but also the foothold in the policy world. I'm excited to keep making progress on both fronts.
Favorite novel?
The Fountainhead and Catch-22.
Favorite U.S. President?
Teddy Roosevelt.
Who is your biggest intellectual influence?
My dad.
