Rebeca Moen
Sep 16, 2025 08:31
In the interview notes of journalist Faye Xiaofei, Professor Han Feng, in an age of global upheaval, raised his gaze to the stars to discern the tides of history and lowered his eyes to the data to parse their logic, pursuing a question that cuts to the root of civilization itself: When the old gravitational anchors collapse, where should humanity’s wealth be moored?
Faye’s Lens: A Rain-Soaked Phone Call in Boston
Faye noted in her journal:
It was one of those moments when history seems to ignite quietly, without spectacle. Han Feng recalled crouching under the eaves of a noodle shop in Boston’s Chinatown during a torrential downpour, holding a phone conference about NBW’s incubation. That moment, unremarkable in appearance, mirrored countless other institutional “ignition points” throughout history—silent, yet enough to shift the future.
6. Genesis at the Harvard Innovation Center: The Birth of a New Bretton Woods System
After studying and debating Shiller’s Narrative Economics, Han and his colleagues at Harvard converged on a new concept: the New Bretton Woods System (NBW).
Their vision: to develop a stablecoin system anchored to Bitcoin—the “quantum gold” of the digital information era. This new form of hard currency would serve as the foundation for global stablecoins, fueling the next wave of globalization and the economy of AI agents by providing both a wealth narrative and liquidity for credit markets.
Han recalled the precise moment: a stormy afternoon in Boston’s Chinatown. Sheltering under the awning of a noodle shop, he and Dr. Xue joined two Harvard alumni for a phone conference. One suggested formally applying for incubation of the NBW project at the Harvard Innovation Center. They began to work through the dense application forms.
The foremost challenge was clear: they had to articulate convincingly how a stablecoin built on the Bitcoin mainnet—later known simply as the NBW stablecoin—could ensure both decentralization and security, while preserving user sovereignty over the underlying asset: Bitcoin.
The NBW Proposal
In their application, they wrote:
“The NBW stablecoin is a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin. It leverages zero-knowledge proofs, a bimetallic minting mechanism (with ELA/FIST as ‘silver’ assets), and an arbitration network developed by Elastos (BeL2) as Bitcoin’s Layer 2. Inspired by the vision of a New Bretton Woods order anchored in assets, NBW offers a non-custodial, decentralized stablecoin—sharply distinct from today’s custodial stablecoins.”
Decentralization by Design
Bitcoin multisig. On the Bitcoin mainnet, NBW employs a 2-of-3 multisignature (P2WSH) lock script. No single party can control funds.
Normal loan life cycle. Users lock BTC to mint stablecoins. Upon repayment, both borrower and issuer must sign to release BTC. Neither can act unilaterally.
Arbitration. If issuers fail to release BTC after repayment, users can appeal to the decentralized BeL2 arbitration network. A randomly selected arbitrator, upon verifying repayment, can co-sign with the borrower to unlock BTC. No party—borrower, issuer, or arbitrator—can act alone. Arbitrators stake collateral to ensure honesty, with zero-knowledge proofs preventing misconduct.
Default scenario. If borrowers fail to repay on time, issuers can liquidate BTC after the first timelock expires. This is not centralization but a pre-agreed contract clause enforced by code. Borrowers can hedge by purchasing Bitcoin short options, offsetting extreme volatility.
Fail-safe recovery. If issuers collapse or vanish, after a second, longer timelock, borrowers regain unilateral control and can reclaim their BTC. This ensures ultimate sovereignty over user assets.
Conclusion: So-called “unilateral” actions in NBW are not acts of centralized power, but pre-programmed, cryptographically enforced terms of a contract. Unlike WBTC and other custodial models, NBW never transfers Bitcoin custody to a central entity.
The Gong of Genesis
On September 26, 2024, the Harvard Innovation Center officially approved NBW’s incubation. In accordance with tradition, a small gong ceremony was held. The gong’s resonance echoed through the Innovation Center’s atrium.
At that moment, Han and his collaborators felt they were not merely launching a startup project—they were striking the first note for a new world.
Figure 5. The traditional gong ceremony at the Harvard Innovation Center, celebrating the launch of the NBW project.
Faye’s Reflections
In her notes, Faye underlined:
She sensed what Han called the “breath of institutions.” The design of NBW echoed the original Bretton Woods system of monetary anchors—but stripped away the chains of nation-states and power.
Most strikingly, NBW did not hand Bitcoin to centralized custodians—it returned it to code and consensus. This is the first principle of the decentralized world.
Suspense
Faye closed her notes with a question:
When the gong of NBW rang, could it truly provide a new anchor for the global financial system? Where would this “ark” sail?
Preview | Episode 7: September 1, 2025 — A New Ark Sets Sail in Dubai.
Review | Episode 5: Reflections by the Charles River: The Revelation of Narrative Economics
Review | Episode 4: Paradigm Shift — A Power Holder of the Old World Turns.
Review | Episode 3: Hard Currency of the Information Age — The Rise of Quantum Gold (Bitcoin, Trump’s pivot, and the Harvard NBW experiment).
Review | Episode 2: The Genesis Experiment on the Eastern Continent — Land as Foundation.
Review | Episode 1: A Prophecy Beneath the Balinese Sky
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