2024 Future of Digital Assets Symposium

Wednesday February 28, 2024 to Wednesday February 28, 2024 • 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

• Washington, DC

Last year, the Kenan Institute and the Milken Institute joined forces and organized an event on the future of digital assets in the nation’s capital. The great success of the event prompted us to plan a repeat event, though on the broader topic of the future of Fintech.

In March 2023 the story of crypto hinged on FTX, but crypto has turned a page in a new chapter and that was clearly the case this year. There was an upbeat mood among industry participants, which included some of the creators of the recent SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. Capital inflow into crypto funds has surpassed their two-year highs. However, regulatory uncertainty around the digital assets industry remains. The dialogue between industry leaders and policy makers continued this year and was part of the agenda.

Rethinc. Labs Research Director Eric Ghysels and the Fintech team at the Milken Institute, led by Mike Piwowar and Nicole Valentine, brought together a group of around 80 participants, discussing not only cryptocurrencies, but also AI, regulation of both cryptocurrencies and the ever-expanding artificial intelligence universe.

The Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023 was one of the items on the agenda as policy makers who participated in the event indicated that the House Financial Services Committee has a workable framework for a stablecoin that might be put to a vote on the House floor. On the Senate side, Senator Lummis, along with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are co-sponsors of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, a digital asset market structure bill in the Senate. Policy makers from both the House and Senate spoke at the event and confirmed their commitment to legislative initiatives on stablecoins.

White House representatives also discussed their initiatives on artificial intelligence, emphasizing the importance of maintaining US leadership in research and development as well as the ethical implications of these powerful new technologies.

Regulation of digital assets and AI was also explored from a European perspective. Thomas Zerdick, Distinguished Fellow, Kenan Institute and Head of Unit at the European Data Protection Supervisor discussed the various EU initiatives.

The day was packed with very insightful conversations on many of the current topics and for a second year in a row, it was an amazing success.