2025 New York Fed Innovation Conference

April 04, 2025

On Friday, April 4, 2025, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will host a research conference bringing together academics, innovators, industry, and thought leaders to foster dialogue on shaping the frontier of technology and finance.

This conference explores fundamental questions related to emerging issues on innovation, risk, and regulation:

I. Innovation: Adapting to the Technological Landscape
The advent of new mediums of transactions, digital transformation, and changes in the regulatory environment have led banks to both compete and partner with fintech and crypto firms. This theme explores opportunities and challenges banks and fintechs face in adapting to the new technological landscape, focusing on partnerships, crypto-compatibility, and the evolving role of banks in the financial system.

II. Risk: Resilience in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Despite the tremendous potential of recent AI systems, their uninhibited development and deployment has raised concerns. This year’s program brings together different perspectives to map and debate the risks and considerations posed by AI as well as the steps required to safely unlock its potential for the financial system and beyond.

III. Regulation: Tokenization of Traditional Financial Assets
Investor demand for greater access has pushed tokenization of traditional financial assets to the forefront of discussions. Today, money-like instruments, such as stablecoins, Treasury securities, money-market funds are being tokenized and made available on blockchain systems, and tokenization platforms offer new way to access and use traditional financial claims. But what are the implications of this and how could access be broadened whilst retaining critical standards? How should these new products and systems be regulated? This theme will explore the various approaches to regulatory compliance and discuss the balance between safety and innovation.

watch the event

See the agenda for timing of specific conference segments.

Event Details

Date & Time
April 4, 2025
8:30am – 5:30pm EDT

Location
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
33 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10045

Audience
Attendance will be in person and by invitation only. For logistical inquiries, please contact ny.researchconference@ny.frb.org.

Media
This event is open to media. All remarks will be on the record, with a recording made available afterward. Media who wish to attend must register by contacting Shelley Pitterson at Shelley.Pitterson@ny.frb.org.

Agenda

8:30am–9:10am	Continental Breakfast
9:10am–9:15am	Welcome Remarks (00:00:12 in video) Michael Lee, Financial Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Per von Zelowitz, Director of the New York Innovation Center, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
9:15am–10:00am	Keynote Remarks (00:05:33 in video) Robert M. Townsend, Elizabeth & James Killian Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
	Innovation: Adapting to the Technological Landscape
10:00am–11:15am	Panel Discussion: Banks, Fintechs, and Crypto-Compatibility (00:45:17 in video) Moderator: Matt Plosser, Financial Research Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Caroline Butler, Global Head of Digital Assets, BNY Lee Hatton, Head of Financial Operations, Block, Inc. Artem Korenyuk, Managing Director of Digital Assets, Citi Michael Shaulov, CEO, Fireblocks
11:15am–11:30am	Break
11:30am–12:10pm	Presentations: Frontier Issues in Blockchain (02:04:18 in video) Moderator: Michael Lee, Financial Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Presenters: Andrea Canidio, Senior Research Economist, CoW Protocol Ethan Chan, CEO, Allium Geoff Ramseyer, Advisor, Stanford Future of Digital Currency Initiative
12:10pm–1:40pm	Lunch 12:45pm–1:30pm Moderated Discussion (02:48:00 in video) Christopher J. Waller, Governor, Federal Reserve Board Moderator: Sonja Danburg, Deputy Associate Director, Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems, Federal Reserve Board
1:40pm–2:20pm	Presentations: Frontier Issues in Artificial Intelligence (03:11:52 in video) Moderator: Elena Ferri, Director of Advanced Analytics & Data Science, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Presenters: Ben Colman, CEO, Reality Defender John Nay, CEO, Norm AI Kush Varshney, IBM Fellow, Thomas J. Watson Research Center
	Regulation: Tokenization of Traditional Financial Assets
2:20pm–3:20pm	Panel Discussion: Approaches to Regulatory Compliance and Challenges (03:58:50 in video) Moderator: Megan Lindgren, Attorney, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Jess Cheng, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets, BlackRock Leo Mizuhara, CEO, Hashnote
3:20pm–3:30pm	Break
	Risk: Large-Scale Risks of AI
3:30pm–4:30pm	Panel Discussion: Mapping Opportunities and Risks of Generative AI (05:01:29 in video) Moderator: Morgan White, Strategist, New York Innovation Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Ben Colman, CEO, Reality Defender Ray McLendon, AI Systems Consultant Kush Varshney, IBM Fellow, Thomas J. Watson Research Center
4:30pm–5:30pm	Panel Discussion: Tokenization Platforms and the Future of Financial Infrastructure (05:52:04 in video) Moderator: Per von Zelowitz, Director of the New York Innovation Center, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Simone Cortese, Head of Product, Fnality Rod Garratt, Professor of Economics, University of California at Santa Barbara Yuval Rooz, CEO of Digital Asset
5:30pm–7:00pm	Reception

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement. You can learn more about how we use cookies by reviewing our Privacy Statement.