12 Aug 2019
54: Art of Scrappy Startup, Boston Fed Edition
This is our central banking perspective, with guest Paul Brassil, technology solutions at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Brassil is an industry veteran who switched to a career with the Federal Reserve System. Having been involved with blockchain projects since early days, Paul is familiar with ins-and-outs of tech experimentations, shaping its technical roadmap. His team also evaluates automation, including AI, and other emerging tech.
Paul sees software eating the world (e.g. Uber, Airbnb). His approach to emerging tech is not just digitizing legacy infrastructure and economic models but think about broader paradigm shifts. Paul compares their blockchain experimentation at the Boston Fed to a 'scrappy' tech startup. To help the Fed be more educated and prepared for market adoption, they want to provide thought leadership based on practical experimentation in a sandbox-like environment.
The Boston Fed stands out from its counterparts in the Federal Reserve System with its focus on tinkering rather than policy & economic research.
As a public service org., they want to apply their learnings to Fed functions, including payments settlement, regulation & supervision, regional and community outreach, blockchain for social good, as well as training their bank examiners on distributed ledger knowledge.
Paul thinks Facebook's Libra, like other ambitious tech projects, should aim to create a mobile experience so smooth that even his grandmother can use it.
Links:
Central Bank of Singapore’s Project Ubin: https://www.mas.gov.sg/schemes-and-initiatives/Project-Ubin
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on currency competition: https://www.stlouisfed.org/from-the-president/speeches-and-presentations/2019/public-and-private-currency-competition
Boston Fed’s Blockchain Whitepaper: https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/fintech/beyond-theory-getting-practical-with-blockchain.aspx
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