Stanford Future of Digital Currency Initiative

Where Rigorous Research Meets the Future of Money

A half-day summit bringing together leading researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to explore the technologies and ideas reshaping the future of money.

Date
July 30, 2026
Location
Stanford University
Format
Half-Day Summit
Register Now

Speakers

Researchers Shaping the Field

Our speakers represent the frontier of academic research in digital currencies, financial markets, and policy — spanning computer science, economics, law, and finance.

Darrell Duffie
Darrell Duffie
Adams Distinguished Professor of Management
Stanford Graduate School of Business
David Mazières
David Mazières
Professor of Computer Science
Stanford University
Jeff Strnad
Jeff Strnad
Charles A. Beardsley Professor of Law
Stanford Law School
Ruizhe Jia
Ruizhe Jia
Assistant Professor, Management Science & Engineering
Stanford University
Ihyun Nam
Ihyun Nam
Ph.D. Student, Computer Science
Stanford University
Paul Wong
Paul Wong
Director, Strategic Impact
Stellar Development Foundation
Lisa Nestor
Lisa Nestor
Research Director
Stanford Future of Digital Currency Initiative
Paul Toback
Paul Toback
Executive Director
Stanford Future of Digital Currency Initiative

Sessions

The Agenda

Three focused sessions and a closing roundtable — each designed to move from evidence to implication, with time for substantive discussion.

Session 1
Opening Research Presentation

Passlog: Authentication Logging with Public State

Authentication logging makes it possible for a user to fetch a comprehensive list of all logins made to her accounts. This helps users detect account compromise quickly to minimize damage and understand exactly where and when their credentials were used: an increasingly important ability as AI agents act on users' behalf. Unfortunately, existing systems provide authentication logging at the expense of allowing the log provider to learn sensitive information or tamper with authentication logs. We present Passlog, a privacy-preserving authentication logging system in which one or more parties run the log service, and anyone can unilaterally audit the log service to prove wrongdoing. A novel property of Passlog is that the log record state can be public without revealing any private information. This makes Passlog a compelling new application domain for the blockchain technology and a path to turn a historically privacy-invasive system into a private and publicly verifiable service. The challenge is to hide the identity of users and web services from the log service while still allowing the log service to enforce that every authentication is correctly recorded. We design, implement, and evaluate Passlog to support both a centralized and decentralized log service.

Ihyun Nam — Stanford University
David Mazières — Stanford University
Session 2
Panel Discussion

AI in Open Systems: Native Participation, Verifiability, and the Future of Autonomous Finance

As AI systems become increasingly autonomous, they are beginning to challenge assumptions embedded in today's financial, legal, and regulatory frameworks. Decentralized financial networks offer a unique environment in which AI agents can hold assets, transact, and operate without traditional intermediaries, while providing transparent and auditable records of their actions. Could permissionless financial systems become the native infrastructure for autonomous AI, and can on-chain verifiability help address longstanding challenges of trust and accountability in AI? This panel will examine the emerging intersection of artificial intelligence and decentralized finance and its implications for the future of economic systems.

Jeff Strnad — Stanford Law School
Ruizhe Jia — Stanford University
Additional Panelists: TBD
Moderator: Lisa Nestor — Stanford FDCI
Session 3
Research Presentation

The Future of On-Chain Finance and Cash Settlement Assets

Details to follow.

Darrell Duffie — Stanford Graduate School of Business
Moderator: Paul Wong — Stellar Development Foundation
Closing
Networking Reception

The Next Frontier: Networking Reception

The summit closes with an open reception bringing together the researchers who ask the hard questions and the practitioners who focus on execution. Come find your counterpart — whether you build, invest, regulate, or study — and dig into the open questions shaping the future of digital currency and decentralized finance.

Event Details

What to Expect

A focused, intimate gathering designed for substantive exchange — not a conference of panels, but a summit of ideas.

Date & Time

July 30, 2026
12:30pm – 5:30pm

Location

Stanford University
Arrillaga Alumni Center
Stanford, California

Who Attends

Stanford researchers and faculty, FDCI members and advisors, invited practitioners from the digital asset and financial industry, and policymakers working at the intersection of technology, finance, and regulation.

Format

Research presentations followed by open Q&A, with a closing facilitated roundtable. Attendance is by invitation and limited registration.

Registration

Request Your Invitation

Space is limited. Complete the form below to request an invitation to the FDCI Stanford Summit 2026.

Register Now

Registration details and confirmation to follow.

📅 Planning to attend? Check out the Science of Blockchain Conference at Stanford, July 27–29.