The U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to host a conference on October 21 focusing on digital assets and innovation in payments. The conference will bring together regulators, financial institutions, and technology leaders to discuss the potential and risks of new financial technologies.
A central topic of discussion will be stablecoins, which have over $230 billion in global circulation. Stablecoins like Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC are increasingly bridging the gap between crypto markets and traditional finance. The Fed's focus on stablecoins shows a growing recognition of their potential to improve payment efficiency, but also the risks they pose to financial stability if they displace traditional banking systems. Recently enacted federal stablecoin legislation in July provided banks with a clearer regulatory framework for issuing dollar-backed tokens.
The conference will also explore the tokenization of financial assets, which is gaining traction as a way to transform how assets are issued and transferred. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman has advocated for a hands-on approach to understanding blockchain and digital assets, even suggesting Fed staff hold small amounts of crypto to better understand the technology. This aligns with broader efforts to equip central bank officials with the expertise to navigate the evolving digital economy.
The conference will address stablecoin business models, legal implications, and use cases across sectors, and aims to understand how digital assets could offer faster and cheaper alternatives for global transactions. Christopher Waller, a Fed Governor, has compared stablecoin-based payments to using debit cards, emphasizing their practical function, and has argued that programmable finance through smart contracts mirrors traditional payment flows. The Fed is studying how market-driven innovation may enhance U.S. dollar-denominated liquidity and supports a regulatory environment that fosters responsible experimentation.
Another topic to be discussed at the conference is how artificial intelligence intersects with payments to enable automation and fraud detection. AI tools are already being used to monitor transactions and personalize consumer payment experiences. The Fed wants to explore how these technologies could make financial systems more responsive and resilient. As real-time data processing becomes essential, the integration of AI tools supports rapid decision-making in high-volume environments. Participants will evaluate AI's role in driving operational efficiency and improving risk management frameworks.
The conference takes place during heightened congressional attention to digital assets. The Senate Banking Committee has prioritized a market structure bill related to crypto, while the House has introduced measures to restrict the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). These legislative developments underscore the importance of defining a clear regulatory framework for emerging payment technologies.
The conference is part of a series of Federal Reserve initiatives to understand and adapt to technological advancements in payments. The Fed's engagement with stablecoins has intensified since the passage of the first federal stablecoin legislation in July 2025, which provided banks with clearer regulatory pathways for issuing dollar-backed tokens. The Fed has also ended a program supervising banks involved in crypto and removed the "reputational risk" classification from bank examinations.
