CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will deliver the opening keynote at Digital Assets @ Duke Conference

Those interested in attending the conference, are encouraged to reserve their seat as soon as possible - as seats are limited to this exclusive event.

 Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero will deliver the opening keynote for the 2nd edition of the Digital Assets @ Duke conference, which will be hosted at Duke University on January 31 – February 2, 2024. Commissioner Goldsmith Romero was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on March 30, 2022. Prior to becoming a CFTC Commissioner, Commissioner Goldsmith Romero served for a decade as the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In that role, she led investigations into bank fraud, money laundering, corruption, mortgage fraud, and conspiracy, which resulted in recoveries of more than $11 billion, criminal charges against 465 defendants, and enforcement actions against financial institutions, corporations, and individuals.

Commissioner Goldmsith Romero has been outspoken on the need to protect retail investors in the cryptocurrency sector. At a conference hosted last year in Singapore by the Futures Industry Association, she spoke about protecting against emerging global fintech threats in cyberspace and cryptocurrencies and expressed concern about the need to better protect consumers:

“This is a market where there are a lot of retail customers who have exposure. Most are young born after 1980, diverse, and make less than $50k a year. That is not the typical customer that the CFTC is used to seeing. (…) I propose that the CFTC create two categories of retail customers, separating household retail from professional and high net worth individuals.  While some customer protections will apply to both groups, the CFTC could target additional customer protections to each group.”

The Digital Assets @ Duke Conference was co-founded last year by Dr. Jimmie Lenz, Executive Director of the Duke FinTech Program and Lee Reiners, Lecturing Fellow at the Duke Financial Economics Center.

This Duke FinTech signature event brings together key industry players in the digital assets space, regulatory experts, and select researchers for two days of rigorous debate, discussion, and education on Duke’s campus in Durham, North Carolina. Speakers and participants will explore new frontiers of digital asset development, investment, and regulation. Topics covered will include: institutional crypto adoption, DeFi, stablecoins, central bank digital currency, regulation, and more. The conference will provide ample opportunities to converse, network, and exchange ideas with peers, colleagues, experts, and leaders in the digital assets ecosystem. Those interested in attending, are encouraged to reserve their seat as soon as possible - as seats are limited to this exclusive event.