The conference, organised by blockchain news platform Bitpush, brought together representatives from banking, investment management, technology, academia and digital asset businesses to examine how artificial intelligence could reshape payments, trading and financial services.
Discussions centred on stablecoins, tokenisation, autonomous financial transactions and institutional adoption, with speakers emphasising that operational reliability and regulatory compliance would determine whether emerging technologies achieve broader commercial acceptance.
Tao Cheng, managing director at Golden Seeds and a former executive at BlackRock and Silicon Valley Bank, identified weaknesses in banking infrastructure and data governance as major barriers to deploying autonomous artificial intelligence systems.
She explained that financial institutions frequently lack the application programming interfaces needed to integrate AI agents with existing systems. Concerns about confidential information and inaccurate machine-generated responses also complicate implementation.
Cheng warned that automation could undermine professional development by eliminating junior positions traditionally used to acquire analytical experience and judgement.
Xi Chen, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, identified autonomous payments as a potential application connecting artificial intelligence with blockchain technology.
Although AI systems can help consumers compare products and make purchasing decisions, completing transactions independently remains challenging. Blockchain payment infrastructure could eventually provide mechanisms for executing and verifying such transactions.
David Hirsch, a partner at McGuireWoods and former enforcement official at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, highlighted regulatory questions surrounding transactions initiated by autonomous systems.
He said regulators would face difficulties establishing human intent when financial decisions were executed by artificial intelligence rather than directly authorised through conventional interfaces.
Hirsch also identified tensions between decentralised blockchain networks and stablecoins, which generally depend on identifiable issuers and operate within regulatory frameworks.
The distinction matters because financial institutions must establish responsibility for transactions, protect customers and maintain effective controls against misconduct.
Han Liu, founder and chief executive of BitFi, argued that conventional banking arrangements were poorly suited to an economy increasingly dependent on automated services and small digital transactions.
He suggested that financial infrastructure designed around cryptocurrency and autonomous agents could handle transactions more efficiently than systems developed around traditional banking products.
Chad Liang, executive vice-president at cryptocurrency exchange BitMart, said growing institutional participation was changing market behaviour and shifting attention towards practical applications.
Potential uses discussed included automated household payments, routine purchasing and financial services performed by software agents operating under predetermined instructions.
Jessica Yang, chief executive of ME Group, questioned whether traditional financial infrastructure could accommodate the transaction speeds demanded by emerging digital payment systems.
She pointed to delays in international transfers as an area where blockchain settlement could offer operational advantages.
However, the discussions did not establish that autonomous cryptocurrency payments had achieved widespread adoption or resolved their associated security and compliance challenges.
Kelly Ye, deputy chief investment officer at Avenir Group, described a changing investment environment in which commercial applications were becoming more important than speculative trading narratives.
She argued that tokenisation could make certain financial assets more accessible by changing how ownership interests were represented and transferred.
Travis John, head of institutional decentralised finance at XDC, identified cross-border settlement and improved recordkeeping as potential benefits of blockchain integration.
He also highlighted shortcomings in fund administration, where disconnected databases and spreadsheets can prevent financial records from being reconciled efficiently with blockchain transactions.
John advocated systems capable of continuously verifying asset ownership and reserve information against digital records.
Thomas Sy, head of multi-asset solutions at New York Life Investments, cautioned that compliance, anti-money-laundering requirements and interoperability remained essential challenges.
He stressed that financial regulations reflect lessons from earlier market failures and should not be disregarded when developing new infrastructure.
Sy also suggested that artificial intelligence could eventually deliver more sophisticated financial guidance if reliable information about assets, liabilities and investment holdings became available through interconnected blockchain systems.
That prospect remains dependent on data quality, privacy safeguards and the ability of different financial platforms to exchange information securely.
Seamon Chan, founding partner at Palm Drive Capital, discussed how AI tools could expand the capabilities of individual entrepreneurs, allowing smaller teams to undertake work previously requiring larger organisations.
Ken Huang, chief executive of DistributedApps. ai, suggested that automation could substantially reduce corporate operating requirements, potentially enabling businesses with exceptionally small workforces.
The conference programme comprised three panel discussions addressing artificial intelligence adoption, autonomous blockchain applications and financial infrastructure. Moderators included Susan Feng of the China Institute of America and Kathryn Zhao of cryptocurrency exchange OKX, alongside a session moderated by Solayer founding engineer Chaz.
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