Dec 26, 2022 at 03:35Until 2017, Natalie Brunell was a local news reporter in California. Then she heard about Bitcoin, got interested, and decided to pursue her career in this industry.
Now she educates people about crypto through her YouTube channel and hosts the HARD MONEY podcast – the project curated by Swan Bitcoin. “I interview others because I have more questions than I have answers,” says Natalie. Still, she has something to express herself, too, since she communicates with top crypto people daily as well as invests herself.
In the interview for buidlbee, Natalie Brunell shares her opinion about:
- problems in the crypto industry;
- investment rules;
- and expectations for 2023.
“My goal is to help people understand Bitcoin”
“When I first heard about Bitcoin in 2017, I was very skeptical and thought it was similar to a digital stock,” recalls Natalie. “I purchased a little but thought it was extremely risky.”
Still, she got interested in crypto. A few years later, she began to read books about it and fully understood the technology and, what’s more important, its value.
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“I came to realize the problem it is designed to solve, the problem of the corruption of money, and I decided to start channeling my journalism and hosting career in the direction of Bitcoin,” she shares. She adds that the best sources for understanding the technology for her were:
- books, especially Bitcoin Standart;
- Bitcoin podcasts;
- and Bitcoin Twitter.
Though Natalie invests in Bitcoin, she primarily considers herself a journalist and educator.
“My journalism and news career trained me in presenting and interviewing and programmed me always to be skeptical, hungry for solid information, and to ask thoughtful questions,” she explains. “But my goal is to help people understand Bitcoin in a way that is easy to understand and approachable – that’s why I [started] my YouTube channel.”
Natalie says she prefers being on the side that asks questions because “she just loves to learn.”
“I love people, I love their stories, and I like to expand my understanding of the world around me. I have more questions than answers. And I hope people will come along that learning journey so that we learn together as much as possible, especially about changing the world through ethical monetary technology.”
Another project Natalie Brunell is working on is the HARD MONEY podcast.
“It is produced by Swan Studios, which is the media production arm of Swan Bitcoin. Swan Studios is committed to creating free educational and informational media content that helps people from all backgrounds understand both Bitcoin and the larger economic picture it fits into.”
She adds that they see a void in the media landscape when it comes to programming that is related to investing and economics. They want to translate the message to an audience of both Bitcoiners and people who are considering buying Bitcoin. “We fill that role and serve as an orange-pilled version of CNBC or Bloomberg.”
“The biggest problem we have is with crypto and not Bitcoin”
As a journalist, Natalie has an opportunity to speak with top crypto people, be involved in the space, and at the same time look at it from the side, including seeing its problems and challenges.
Natalie thinks that “the biggest problem we have is with crypto and not Bitcoin.” “It’s a new unregulated ecosystem, with many businesses set up offshore with projects not built on technically sound, ethically sound, and economically sound foundations. Not everything needs a blockchain.”
She claims that Bitcoin is the only truly secure, decentralized, and stable blockchain that has the properties needed in order to be money. Many other tokens are digital securities vulnerable to centralization, pump-and-dump schemes, and even outright fraud, as was the case with FTX.
“I highly caution people who enter the space not to be fooled by the seemingly low prices of altcoins,” says Natalie. “That is gambling in a casino. Bitcoin is divisible into 100 million units, known as satoshis. It’s better to stack ethical money in the form of Bitcoin than an unregulated, unregistered digital security that may or may not be around in the next few years.”
Natalie herself also follows her own advice.
“I invest in Bitcoin,” she says. “My investment rule for myself [is] to set it and forget it. I buy to hold, not to trade it. It’s my savings technology for the future, and I have a long time horizon with what I allocate to Bitcoin (5+ years), so I’m not worried about the volatility.”
To understand when and how much to invest, she consumes information from Bitcoin Twitter. She also listens to all the big podcasts that discuss Bitcoin and macro and still reads and re-reads books on the subject. “I think it’s important to learn and expand your knowledge continually,” she explains.
“Every bear market runs out of sellers eventually”
In 2023, Natalie expects more volatility from crypto “given the macro environment with the Federal Reserve continuing to raise rates to fight inflation.”
“Many of the actions that central bankers have taken have a lagging effect, and I think at some point, we could have significant treasury liquidity issues that spark a Fed pivot,” says Natalie. “None of us knows when the money printer will go ‘brrr’ in a significant way again, but one thing is certain: at some point, they will have to print because we are too indebted. Every bear market runs out of sellers eventually.”
She also thinks in the future, Bitcoin will decouple from other assets it has traditionally been correlated to, and we will eventually see new all-time highs. “Nothing makes me feel more bullish than seeing a record number of holders, even in a bear market, a record number of wallets, and a record high hash rate.”
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