Penny Crosman

Penny Crosman

Executive Editor, Technology

American Banker

Penny Crosman is Interim Editor-in-Chief at Digital Insurance and Executive Editor, Technology at American Banker and Arizent. Prior to taking on these roles, she was Editor in Chief of Bank Technology News and Technology Editor of American Banker. She has held senior editorial roles at Bank Systems & Technology, Wall Street & Technology, Intelligent Enterprise, Network Magazine and Imaging Magazine.

Featured Sessions

Thursday, March 19, 2026
9:45 am

As the digital-asset ecosystem matures, banks are exploring how to bring the trust and stability of traditional deposits onto new digital rails. Tokenized deposits—bank-issued, blockchain-based representations of fiat money—could redefine payments, liquidity, and market infrastructure. This session brings together leading voices from the banking and crypto worlds to examine how tokenized deposits can bridge TradFi and DeFi, enabling 24/7 settlement, programmable payments, and more efficient markets—without compromising on compliance or safety. Among the things the panel will discuss:

  • What’s driving the interest in tokenized deposits now
  • How tokenized deposits differ from stablecoins and CBDCs
  • Whether tokenized deposits a defensive move—or an offensive innovation strategy for banks?
  • What are the biggest operational and technology hurdles to tokenizing deposits within a regulated bank environment?
  • How would tokenized deposits change interbank settlement, liquidity management, or treasury operations?
  • Could tokenized deposits make correspondent banking and cross-border payments obsolete?
  • How are tokenized deposits likely to coexist with stablecoins and CBDCs?
12:55 pm

For TradFi leaders, meaningful participation in digital assets and on-chain finance depends on the infrastructure decisions they make long before products are launched. This working group focuses on the foundational capabilities—governance, custody, ledger architecture, risk, compliance, and operating models—that must be put in place to support real value, real clients, and real regulatory scrutiny. Rather than debating technologies or market hype, participants will pressure-test how today’s infrastructure choices lock in future control, scalability, and accountability, and identify what must be built now to position their institutions as credible, long-term stakeholders in on-chain financial markets. Discussion points include:

  • Defining digital asset infrastructure and setting a common baseline to avoid misalignment.
  • Infrastructure vs. products vs. pilots.
  • Digital assets as financial infrastructure, not an innovation sandbox.
  • Governance for 24/7, irreversible, code-based markets.
  • Decision ownership across business, risk, compliance, and technology.
  • Mapping infrastructure components to regulatory expectations.
  • Custody, safeguarding, AML/KYC, and reporting requirements.
  • Key management models and control frameworks to ensure custody is the anchor point.
  • On-chain vs. off-chain ledgers and synchronization.
  • Permissioned vs. public blockchain considerations.
  • Data consistency, reconciliation, and source of truth.
  • Interoperability across chains and legacy systems.
  • Identity, access, and compliance by design to underpin trust.
  • Risk management in real time.
  • Ownership across technology, operations, risk, and business.
  • New roles and skill sets required.
  • Breaking silos between digital asset teams and core functions.