- The U.S. Federal Reserve will host a payments innovation conference on Oct. 21, 2025.
- The discussions will cover stablecoins, AI-driven payments, and tokenized financial products.
- Industry leaders from Chainlink, Coinbase, Circle, and BlackRock will attend.
The U.S. Federal Reserve will host a payments innovation conference tomorrow, Tuesday, October 21, in Washington, D.C. The event will bring together regulators, financial executives, and crypto-industry leaders.
It aims to explore how digital assets, artificial intelligence, and tokenization are transforming the global payments ecosystem.
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Fed Governor Christopher J. Waller will deliver opening and closing remarks. The conference will be livestreamed on the Federal Reserve’s official website and YouTube channel.
Bridging Traditional Finance and Digital Assets
The first panel, “Bridging Traditional Finance with the Digital Asset Ecosystem,” will be moderated by Rebecca Rettig, General Counsel at Jito Labs.
Speakers include Sergey Nazarov, Co-Founder and CEO of Chainlink; Jackie Reses, CEO of Lead Bank; Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks; and Jennifer Barker, Global Head of Treasury Services at BNY.
The discussion will center on interoperability between banks and blockchain networks, addressing how financial institutions can safely and efficiently connect to digital asset infrastructure.
Stablecoins Will Feature
The second session, “Stablecoin Use Cases and Business Models,” will feature Kyle Samani of Multicoin Capital as moderator.
Panelists include Charles Cascarilla of Paxos, Tim Spence of Fifth Third Bank, Fernando Terres of Dolar App, and Heath Tarbert, President of Circle.
This panel will analyze the role of stablecoins in payment systems, cross-border transactions, and financial inclusion. Participants will discuss regulatory frameworks, liquidity management, and compliance challenges as stablecoin adoption expands worldwide.
Artificial Intelligence in Payment Systems
After the lunch break, the focus will shift to “AI in Payments,” moderated by Matt Marcus of Modern Treasury.
Panelists include Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest; Alesia Haas, CFO of Coinbase; Emily Sands, Head of AI at Stripe; and James Tromans, Managing Director for Web3 and Digital Assets at Google Cloud.
The discussion will explore how AI is modernizing payment operations, reducing fraud, and improving transaction efficiency. It will also address the intersection of AI and blockchain, where machine learning models can enhance financial forecasting and risk detection.
Tokenization and the Next Wave of Financial Products
The final panel, “Tokenized Products,” will be moderated by Colleen Sullivan of Brevan Howard Digital. Speakers include Jenny Johnson of Franklin Templeton, Don Wilson of DRW, Rob Goldstein of BlackRock, and Kara Kennedy of JPM Kinexys.
This discussion will examine how tokenization is reshaping asset management, allowing traditional assets such as bonds and funds to be represented and traded digitally.
Experts will consider how blockchain technology could expand investor access and liquidity while maintaining regulatory oversight.
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According to the Fed’s announcement, the event aims to “consider a broad range of perspectives on how to further innovate and improve the payment system.”
While no policy announcements are expected, the conference highlights that digital assets and blockchain-based systems are increasingly part of mainstream financial discussions.
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