US Wyoming Blockchain Symposium

Lummis says things have been harder to execute than expected. But she still seems bullish. pic.twitter.com/OTtvb6a0no BREAKING: U.S. Senator Senator Cynthia Lummis live on-stage at the Wyoming Blockchain Summit. "We will have Market Structure done this year." - @SenLummis pic.twitter.com/ujGd4EZ5v6

Thank you for inviting me to speak today on payments innovation. It is an exciting time to work in payments. While I have always been interested in the topic, I would have never imagined decades ago that payments would generate this amount of enthusiasm, where now some of the coolest jobs in tech are working in this area. The payment system is experiencing what I have called a "technology-driven revolution," where the latest advances in computing power, data processing, and distributed networks have fueled growth in innovative new payment services. This includes 24/7 instant payments, user-friendly digital wallets and mobile payment apps, and stablecoins and other digital assets. Alongside these new services sits enabling technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), that has the potential to improve the precision and efficiency of the underlying payment products even further. While there has been a lot of excitement, and admittedly sometimes hype, around the possibilities of these new technologies, there have also been some who have been fearful or skeptical of innovation in this space. But we only have to look to history to see that the evolution of the payment system has long been a story of technological advancement. In any payment transaction, three things happen. First, an object is bought and paid for with another object. Second, there is a technology for conducting this transaction. Finally, there is a technology for recording the history of the transaction and ownership of the objects. For example, I can go to the grocery store and buy an apple and use a digital dollar in my checking account to pay for it. I tap my debit card on a card reader to conduct the transaction. Fed's Waller does not comment on monetary policy or economic outlook in prepared remarks to payments conference. Fed's Waller: The Fed is conducting research on tokenization and AI in payments.

Good afternoon and thank you to the organizers of the 2025 Wyoming Blockchain Symposium for inviting me to speak to you today. It is an honor to be included in this year's event, which is being held at a critical moment for American leadership in the digital asset space. We are at the beginning of what appears to be a seismic shift in the way we think about money, value, and the fabric of our financial system. This shift is not just about incremental changes or tweaks to the existing system. What we are witnessing has the potential to fundamentally transform the way we live, work, and interact in society. It is inspiring to be together with all of you, as thought leaders engaged in developing technologies that could help shape the financial system in the future. You don't need a tech background to appreciate the opportunity that blockchain provides to the financial system. Financial services innovation drives faster, safer, cheaper, and more customized products that more efficiently meet the needs of consumers and businesses. Digital processes like wire transfers and ACH disrupted the need to move large amounts of physical currency and other hard assets, making the system more efficient and safer. Through technology, there is opportunity to transform how we think about transferring assets. Throughout recent history, whether previous transformations involved industrialization, communications, or the internet, each of these advances had a profound and lasting impact on our society. While the future is unknown and unknowable, I expect we will look back at some point to consider the impact of blockchain, AI, and quantum computing and marvel at the BOWMAN SAYS 'DE MINIMIS' CRYPTO HOLDINGS WOULD ALLOW FED STAFF TO BETTER UNDERSTAND CRYPTO PRODUCTS FEDERAL RESERVE VICE CHAIR FOR SUPERVISION MICHELLE BOWMAN SAYS FED STAFF SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO OWN SMALL AMOUNTS OF CRYPTO PRODUCTS BOWMAN SAYS LIMITS ON FED STAFF INVESTMENT…