Banking Reporter
CNBC
Hugh has covered banking for CNBC since 2018, breaking news on the intersection of finance and technology at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Uber, Amazon, Apple, Binance and other companies. Before that, he covered finance at Bloomberg News since 2006, where he broke much of what the public knows about the public bailout of AIG during the financial crisis. He got his start in journalism at the New York Daily News, covering real estate and politics. Hugh grew up in Queens and attended Stuyvesant High School and Binghamton University.
As stablecoins become poised to potentially dominate the settlement rail for on-chain finance, traditional financial institutions face a strategic inflection point: how to build, deploy, and scale an institutional-grade stablecoin strategy that positions them for leadership rather than displacement. With regulatory clarity increasing, tokenization infrastructures maturing, and corporate demand for real-time programmable liquidity rising, stablecoins are shifting rapidly from experimental to essential—and financial institutions must determine their strategic path forward.
The other significant challenge: TradFi technology stacks were not designed for on-chain operations, 24/7 liquidity, tokenized liabilities, or smart contract execution. A financial institution that wants to issue, support, or integrate stablecoins must build capabilities across five major infrastructure layers, each with subcomponents and strategic decisions.
This session brings together TradFi and crypto leaders to explore what it truly takes for a financial institution to operate on-chain. The panel will examine strategic decision-making around issuing versus partnering, the technical and operational infrastructure required to support regulated stablecoins, and how to safely integrate stablecoins into core banking, treasury, payments, and capital markets workflows.
The panel will also focus on liquidity models, interoperability between public and permissioned chains, risk and compliance frameworks, and the emerging business models that will shape competitive advantage. Panelists will share insights on how to sequence a stablecoin roadmap, where early value emerges for clients, and how to organize internally for execution across technology, risk, legal and treasury functions. Key points of the discussion will include: