CEO, Enterprise
Uphold
With over 20 years of experience in payments, financial services, and crypto, Robin O’Connell has been at the forefront of digital finance innovation for decades. As CEO of Uphold Enterprise, he is driving enterprise adoption of stablecoins and blockchain-powered payments, helping financial institutions integrate next-generation solutions for banking, payments, and fiat-to-crypto services.
Robin is leading the charge in helping financial institutions navigate and capitalize on this evolution. Under his leadership, Uphold Enterprise has launched a seamless crypto onramp and off-ramp, as well as a whitelabel product designed to power stablecoin transactions at scale. Previously, Robin played a key role in shaping digital payments at Visa USA, where he managed the Visa Bill Payment Initiative. Robin believes enterprises worldwide are finally acknowledging the transformative power of stablecoins—ushering in a future where transactions are faster, more efficient, and borderless.
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: