Federal Reserve to Host Blockchain & AI Payments Innovation Conference on Oct. 21

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it will host a conference on payments innovation on Tuesday, October 21, in Washington, D.C. The event will bring together experts from banks, businesses, and tech companies to talk about how to make payments faster, safer, and more useful for everyone. According to the announcement, the conference will have different panel talks on new ideas in finance. These topics will include how traditional finance is starting to connect with decentralized finance, and new ways stablecoins can be used in business. 

It will also include how artificial intelligence is being used in payments, and how financial products can be changed into digital tokens. The conference will be shown live on the Federal Reserve’s website, and more information will be shared in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Governor Christopher J. Waller recently spoke about the meeting.

He said that the change has always been part of payments. “Innovation has been a constant in payments to meet the changing needs of consumers and businesses,” Waller said. He added that he wants to hear about the chances and risks of new technology, and how it can help improve safety and efficiency in the payments system.

The Federal Reserve has already been active in modernizing payments. In July 2023, it launched the FedNow service, which allows real-time payments. Today, FedNow has about 1,400 banks using it and handles about $2.7 billion every day. The Fed also runs the Fedwire Funds Service and helps manage the ACH system together with The Clearing House.

Governor Waller has also spoken about digital assets. Last month, he said that buying crypto with stablecoins through smart contracts is basically the same as paying with a debit card at the store.  He explained that tools like tokenization and distributed ledgers should not be seen as strange, but instead as new ways that could be part of normal payments in the future.

Waller said the Fed should connect more with private businesses that are leading innovation. “It is my belief that the Federal Reserve could benefit from further engagement with innovators in industry,” Waller said. He also mentioned that stablecoins are an example of how the market itself creates new solutions for payments.