Unpacking Cryptocurrency and Its Global Future

Name: Unpacking Cryptocurrency and Its Global Future
Start: 2025-11-20T18:00:00-08:00
Location: Maury Young Arts Centre

Schedule

Thu, 20 Nov, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-08:00

Location

Maury Young Arts Centre | Whistler, BC

Join the Whistler Institute for an evening with Dr. Victoria Lemieux, Professor at UBC and global leader in blockchain research. With international recognition for her work on digital trust and transparency, Dr. Lemieux offers our community the extraordinary opportunity to explore the societal impact of one of the most transformative technologies of our time.
Her talk will examine the trajectory of blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital assets: the rise of stable coins and central bank digital currencies, how regulators are shaping the landscape, the ways nation states and major organizations are experimenting with tokenization and smart contracts, and the emerging intersection of blockchain with artificial intelligence.
Bringing both a global lens and deep expertise, Dr. Lemieux will help us understand where blockchain and crypto may be headed in the next decade—and why its evolution matters not only to financial systems, but to governance, innovation, and our collective future.
Meet the Speaker
Victoria Lemieux, Professor, Blockchain@UBC Cluster Lead
Dr. Victoria Lemieux is a seasoned technology leader, innovator, and academic. Currently, she serves as a Professor of Archival Science at the University of British Columbia’s School of Information, where she instructs courses on archives and technology, IT Security, archival diplomatics, and selection and acquisition of archival documents. Additionally, she is the founder and co-lead of Blockchain@UBC, the university’s top-ranked multidisciplinary blockchain research cluster recognized by Coindesk.
With extensive professional experience, Victoria has held senior roles in various sectors. She's worked as a professional archivist and records manager in the public sector, as a VP overseeing information governance and IT Security at a global investment bank, and as a senior administrator in higher education. Her tenure at the World Bank as a Senior Public Sector Specialist and consultant, as well as her role as the Chief Information Security and Privacy Officer for a health intelligence company, further exemplifies her expertise.Victoria's impactful consultancy extends to organizations like the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Inter-American Development Bank. Her academic pursuits delve into the risks affecting trustworthy records and their implications for transparency, financial stability, public accountability, and human rights. She contributes to international standards through her involvement with the International Standards Organization’s Technical Committee 307 on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology.
She holds a doctorate in Archival Studies from University College London and has been a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) since 2005. Her accolades include the 2015 Emmett Leahy Award for outstanding contributions to records management, a 2015 World Bank Big Data Innovation Award, and a 2020 Blockchain Ecosystem Leadership Award. Victoria is recognized as one of Canada’s Top 20 women in IT Security. She's authored and edited acclaimed articles and books, notably "Financial Analysis and Risk Management" (Springer, 2012), "Building Trust in Information" (Springer, 2016), "Building Decentralized Trust" (Springer, 2020), and "Searching for Trust" (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
The Global Perspectives Speaker Series (GPSS) is produced by one of the Whistler Institute’s working committees. Topics are selected based on a blend of community input, contemporary global conversations, and access to speakers. These evening events focus on the world’s greatest challenges, elevating leading experts and game changers to share bold ideas, new perspectives, and disruptive concepts that have the potential to create positive change in the world today and into the future.
About the Whistler Institute
The Whistler Institute is a registered charity funded through private donors, foundations, government grants, and fees for service. We facilitate and promote place-based learning opportunities, and our mission is to influence change and inspire minds through education and thought leadership. The Whistler Institute gratefully and respectfully acknowledges that we operate on the land now known as Whistler, located on the shared, unceded territories of the Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh Nation and Líl̓wat Nation.