Federal Reserve Building, Washington DC, USA Share with:
At the Institute of International Finance Blockchain Roundtable held recently in Washington, D.C., U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard gave a speech on Blockchain technology , noting that emerging Internet of Value holds out the promise of addressing important frictions and reducing intermediation steps in the clearing and settlement process.
The event took place April 14th, 2016 at The Institute of International Finance – the global association of the financial industry, which has some 500 members from 70 countries.
Brainard’s topic was “The Use of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Payment, Clearing, and Settlement.” Innovation in digital finance, loosely referred to as fintech, is capturing imaginations from Silicon Valley to Chicago to Wall Street. We’re seeing a steady stream of announcements of new startups and partnerships, and consumers are downloading fintech apps at an even faster pace. Financial products, services, and transactions lend themselves to successive waves of technological disruption because they can readily be represented as streams of numerical information ripe for digitization. However, as technological tools used by the industry change over time, it is important to keep sight of their impact on the public, whether it be on families seeking to own their own home, seniors seeking financial security, young adults seeking to invest in education and training, or small businesses attempting to smooth through volatile revenues and expenses. Current developments in the digitization of finance are important and deserving of serious and sustained engagement on the part of policymakers and regulators. The Federal Reserve Board has established a multi-disciplinary working group that is engaged in a 360-degree analysis of fintech innovation. We are bringing together the best thinking across the Federal Reserve System, spanning key areas of responsibility, from supervision to community development, from financial stability to payments. As policymakers, we […]
