Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher J. Waller delivered a speech on technological advancements in payments, framing current developments as a “technology-driven revolution” spanning 24/7 instant payments, digital wallets, stablecoins and other digital assets, and the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI). He argued that payments innovation should generally be private sector-led, with the Federal Reserve’s role focused on operating and modernizing core clearing and settlement infrastructure, and only rarely building new public platforms where there is a specific market need. On stablecoins, Waller described their evolution from a tool for crypto trading to broader payment use cases, including access to U.S. dollars in countries with high inflation or limited banking services, and he said they could maintain and extend the dollar’s international role while improving retail and cross-border payments. He reiterated the need for a U.S. regulatory regime to provide clarity and reduce fragmentation, and pointed to the GENIUS Act becoming law in July 2025 as the first major crypto-asset legislation and an important step for payment stablecoins. The remarks also highlighted AI’s long-standing use in payments for fraud and anti-money laundering detection and noted emerging applications of generative and agentic AI, while flagging ongoing Federal Reserve technical research into tokenization, smart contracts and AI in payments and plans to deepen engagement with industry as traditional finance and the digital-asset ecosystem converge.

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