In an era defined by accelerating digitization and mounting questions about the future of finance, the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management has placed its blockchain research center under new stewardship—and with it, signaled a shift in direction. Co-Pierre Georg, a physicist-turned-economist with a global academic and policy background, is not only the new director of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center but also a leading voice advocating for a more grounded, rigorous, and research-driven conversation around digital assets.
Georg, who assumed the position in September 2024 following the untimely passing of Philipp Sandner, brings both a critical lens and a strategic agenda to one of Germany’s most prominent blockchain hubs. “Until now, it was very practical—an ecosystem hub driven by Philipp’s personality,” Georg told BFRR podcast hosts Jonas and Alex in a wide-ranging interview. “I like my research… I had to give it a new pitch.”
The new pitch is markedly more academic, more technologically rooted, and far more cautious about the current state of the crypto economy. Georg’s background includes a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Jena, postdoctoral work in Madrid, and a nine-year tenure at the Bundesbank, where he researched systemic risk and interbank contagion. His fascination with blockchain technology emerged around 2016, but his approach has been anything but evangelical.
“Payments were always a bit boring,” he said wryly. “Then blockchain changed everything. Suddenly, we were the cool kids.” Yet the technology’s popularity did not obscure the structural problems Georg perceived. His academic journey included a sabbatical at MIT, where he focused on data governance and how blockchain might decentralize control over personal information—an issue he still views as central.
As director, Georg has initiated a strategic realignment of the Blockchain Center, grounded in three focus areas: central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), blockchain as infrastructure for digital property rights, and the systemic risks posed by crypto markets. Each of these topics, selected democratically by his research team, reflects his dual commitment to societal relevance and analytical depth.
“There’s a lot of people talking about the positive sides of blockchain,” he noted, “but there’s not really a place where we apply lessons from the financial crisis to crypto.”
Indeed, Georg’s growing concern about systemic fragility in the crypto space has prompted him to speak out more openly, particularly about Bitcoin. Once content to address the subject academically, Georg said recent developments—such as MicroStrategy’s leveraged Bitcoin holdings and mounting political discussions about including Bitcoin in sovereign reserves—changed his stance.
“It’s time we reevaluate our stance toward Bitcoin,” he said. “We have a very accommodating stance in Germany.”
In his view, MicroStrategy’s business model—issuing debt to acquire Bitcoin—mirrors the logic of a Ponzi scheme. “It was fine when they had long-term debt with no yield,” he said. “But now they’re on the hook for $140 million in interest payments this year alone. That can’t come from their software business. And if they sell Bitcoin, the market reaction could be severe.”
Georg links this concern to broader questions about liquidity and market structure. He is skeptical of commonly cited metrics like market capitalization, which fail to account for fire-sale dynamics or illiquidity spirals. “We don’t have proper stress tests. The same issues that blindsided us in 2008 could recur,” he warned.
Tether, the industry’s most widely used stablecoin, is another focal point of concern. While the firm reports substantial reserves and has posted attestations, it does not submit to the kind of audited oversight Georg believes is essential. He fears the lack of transparency could trigger a bank-run dynamic in a moment of uncertainty. “The coordination failure risk is real,” he said, “and the crypto industry is too chill about Tether.”
Georg’s critique extends to Bitcoin’s technical and societal dimensions. Once envisioned as a peer-to-peer payment system, he now sees Bitcoin as having failed its original mission. Transaction volumes remain minuscule, fees are too high for everyday use, and its energy consumption continues to raise concerns. He characterizes it as a system designed to evade regulation—an “ideological infrastructure” with worrying real-world implications.
“Bitcoin had perfect inequality at birth,” he said, referring to the fact that early adopters accumulated significant shares of the currency. “It’s more unequal than South Africa at the end of apartheid. Do we really want to export that inequality to the rest of the world?”
Yet Georg is not a blanket skeptic of blockchain. Far from it. His work with central banks—most notably on South Africa’s retail CBDC pilot—has helped shape viable blockchain-based alternatives to card networks like Mastercard. His new MSc in Financial Technology at Frankfurt School, launching in September, blends blockchain, AI, and platform economics to equip students with practical, interdisciplinary skills.
Nor does he dismiss the crypto community outright. “The vision was once great. But we have to ask, is Bitcoin really the right design? And if it has to change anyway for quantum resistance, isn’t now the time to talk about it?”
The Frankfurt School Blockchain Center under Georg’s leadership is clearly charting a more measured course. He has reduced dependence on resource-intensive outreach programs, hiring postdocs to boost academic rigor, and working to integrate the center more closely with the university’s other research departments. “We want to serve the financial sector and society—critically, but constructively,” he said.
In the high-stakes world of digital finance, that kind of sober, methodical leadership may be exactly what the industry needs. Whether the crypto community is ready to hear it is another question entirely.
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