Venezuelan Economist Wins Global Prize Exposing How Bitcoin Is Reshaping US Banks

• Venezuelan economist Barbara Armas wins the international Think Bitcoin 2025 academic competition.

• The US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, holding 198,000 BTC, is a key factor in reshaping bank risk models.

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Venezuelan economist Barbara Armas has won first place in the international academic contest “Think Bitcoin 2025.” The competition evaluated 18 papers from Argentina, Costa Rica, Spain, and Venezuela. Armas, a professor and researcher at the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (UCAB), submitted work that examines how the expansion of Bitcoin is influencing the way American banks assess and manage risk.

Her research, titled “Bitcoin and Risk Perception: Financial Disruption in the American Banking Sector,” analyzes the relationship between crypto market capitalization and bank decisions when setting discount rates, a central indicator for their future risk projections. The study concludes that as Bitcoin’s market capitalization grows, financial institutions tend to adopt more conservative positions and raise those rates.

Organization and Reach of the “Think Bitcoin 2025” Contest

The Institute for Bitcoin Philosophy and Economics (IFEB) and Costa Rica’s Lead University organized the contest. It was supported by several organizations, including the UCAB’s Blockchain, Trading & Crypto Academy (BT&C). Participants included professors, students, and researchers from various countries. The first-place winner received a prize of US$1,000 in BTC, along with publication of the article in the academic journal Logos.

Barbara Armas graduated from UCAB in 2016, holds a master’s degree in Applied Economics, and is currently a doctoral candidate at the same institution. The economist stated she used the contest to channel part of the research line she is developing for her doctoral thesis, which focuses on digital economy, data analysis, artificial intelligence, and financial risk management.

The Reconfiguration of the Relationship between Banking and Bitcoin

Since its creation in 2008, Bitcoin has transitioned from a marginal experiment to an asset closely monitored by the international financial system. This shift in attitude is particularly relevant in the United States, where this year the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was created, with an approximate accumulation of 198,000 BTC. This makes the country the largest institutional holder of this cryptocurrency globally.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization exceeds $2 trillion, a scale that rivals the GDP of many national economies. For Armas, this growing weight forces traditional financial actors to recalibrate their risk frameworks.

Her research highlights that the emergence of the crypto market “induces banks to adjust their risk horizons and profitability strategies.“

UCAB’s Academic Push in Cryptofinance

The advance of cryptocurrencies into broader areas of knowledge—including sociology, history, philosophy, and economics—has spurred new academic initiatives. The BT&C UCAB Academy was established just over a year ago. It has offered multidisciplinary courses, programs, and diplomas covering everything from ethical and philosophical foundations to practical applications in crypto markets.

Barbara Armas believes this academic space will become increasingly relevant. She suggests, for instance, that UCAB could promote short programs integrating macroeconomics, regulation, and cryptofinance, with topics such as the impact of crypto assets on monetary policy and risk management.

The professor stated that as bitcoin and cryptocurrencies cease to be purely speculative phenomena, theoretical and applied research becomes indispensable.

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