What Remains: Love, Dignity, and the Wealth We Can’t Tokenize

How a private banker’s quiet intuition became a wealth scientist’s foundation by Ryna Mi (formerly Kateryna Mileeva)

Prologue

I once wrote an article called “Tokenization of a Smile.” Not as satire. Not as performance. But with just enough irony to name what I couldn’t yet say out loud:

We were living in a world that had already begun commodifying the human.

I was still wearing a white suit and closing complex deals—but part of me had already left the room. What I didn’t realize at the time was this: That article wasn’t a clever industry take. It was my soul trying to leak through the seams...

Ryna’s private collection

Before the Frameworks, There Was a Feeling

In 2016, I was still Kateryna Mileeva — Managing Director at Alfa Private, the largest privately owned private banking business in the ex-USSR, navigating elite capital and complex family systems. On paper, I was succeeding.

But deep down, I was sensing something quieter: A fatigue that had nothing to do with burnout. A longing that didn’t fit into my KPIs. A knowing that wealth—real wealth—had nothing to do with market performance.

That’s when I wrote the piece titled “Tokenization of a Smile.” I didn’t know it then, but I had just published the first breadcrumb of my sovereign path.

Excerpt 1: The Hidden Role of the Banker

«В какой-то момент я пришла к выводу, что миром правят деньги, как бы мы к этому ни относились. В этом контексте позиция банкира — одна из ключевых в мирском круговороте. Но его роль, на мой взгляд, состоит в том, чтобы, используя свой профессионализм в теме, в итоге снять в головах людей гигантскую напряжённость темы денег, увеличить значимость духовного счастья.»

"At some point, I came to the conclusion that money rules the world—whether we like it or not. In that context, the banker holds one of the central roles in the worldly cycle. But their true task, in my view, is to use their expertise to relieve the immense psychological tension around money—and to elevate the value of spiritual happiness."

Now I See: That wasn’t commentary. It was confession. I wasn’t managing portfolios. I was holding people’s money-anxiety with my body. That seed became Existential Portfolio Theory—a decision framework that spans the Transpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Interpersonal realms of life.

Excerpt 2: A New Equivalent

«Деньги — всего лишь мера энергии, и это мерило может быть любым, нужно только собраться и договориться, придумать нечто, вызывающее всеобщее доверие. Не будет переводов — станем обмениваться этой энергией как-то по-другому. Было бы замечательно, если бы этим универсальным эквивалентом, универсальной ценностью стала, например, улыбка. Или любовь, честность, достоинство. Остаётся понять, как всё это токенизировать.»

"Money is merely a measure of energy, and that measure could be anything—we just need to come together and agree on something that inspires universal trust. If there are no more transfers, we’ll find another way to exchange that energy. It would be wonderful if that universal equivalent, that universal value, became something like a smile. Or love, honesty, dignity. The only question is: how do we tokenize that?"

Now I See: This wasn’t about fintech. It was about the spiritual violence of abstraction. "Money is just energy," I wrote. So what if our next currency… was character? Today, I design wealth systems that protect what cannot be digitized: presence, trust, soul integrity.That paragraph didn’t belong in a magazine. It belonged in a constitution for what I now call Sovereign Wealthfulness™.

Excerpt 3: The Future Will Still Need Us

«На самом деле сильный характер, ум важнее денег. Я уверена, что потребность в человеческом интеллекте и эмоциональности будет только расти. Да, рабочие места, наверное, сократятся, но оставшиеся в игре должны будут обладать феноменальными компетенциями и навыками. Может быть, мы придем к тому, что минимальное количество людей сможет обеспечивать потребности всех жителей планеты, а остальное будут делать машины и алгоритмы. Но я уверена, что потребность в людях, и особенно в частных банкирах, ни у кого не пропадет. Наверняка это и подразумевалось под этой должностью в будущем. Но пока до этого далеко — не только нам, но и всему рынку в целом.»

"In truth, strong character and intelligence matter more than money. I’m convinced the demand for human intellect and emotionality will only grow. Yes, jobs may decline, but those who remain will need phenomenal sensitivity and skill. Perhaps a small number of people will meet the needs of the planet, and the rest will be handled by machines and algorithms.

Still, I believe the need for humans—and especially private bankers—will not disappear. That may be what this role was always meant to become. But we’re not there yet—not us, and not the market."

Now I See: I once believed private banking could evolve. Now I know it must dissolve—and reconstitute itself around meaning, not management.

What we need is not more financial innovation. We need architects of coherence—people who hold paradox and clarity in the same palm.

That’s who I’ve become. And that’s who I now serve.

Mini-Manifesto

I wrote this before I had a name for what I was doing. Before I had the language. Before I realized that the most valuable capital is unseen, unfakeable, and deeply human.

This was never just about a smile.

It was about what still holds value when everything else becomes a product. About who still holds presence when everything else becomes performance. About what we must protect when everything else is up for sale.

What Remains

Love. Honesty. Dignity. This will remain. (— from “Tokenization of a Smile,” 2016)

These are not sentiments. They are structures. They are sovereign.

Why I’m Sharing This Now

Because that article wasn’t just a relic. It was the first ripple in a life that would one day become a river.

If you’ve ever felt the tension between performance and presence… If you’ve ever held both power and longing in the same hand… If you’ve ever sensed that wealth is asking to mean something more —

Then maybe, this story is also yours.

With reverence for what can’t be tokenized, Ryna Mi Creator of Sovereign Wealthcare™ | Former Private Banker | Wealth Systems Scientist