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July 2024

Bitcoin Reserve: An Idea Ahead of its Time?

“Gold is the reserve asset of choice for many countries. But nothing hinders the U.S. from declaring bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset today,” writes Susan Joseph in the Tabb Forum on July 24. Countries hold reserve assets to manage balance of payments, influence exchange rates, and maintain economic confidence and stability. Joseph and Craig Warmke of Northern Illinois University argue that the U.S. would do well to support the use of bitcoin as a reserve currency, not least because of its permissionless and censorship-resistant qualities. Read Joseph’s full piece here. 

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April 2024

Maureen O'Hara named Quant Researcher of 2023

The Journal of Portfolio Management has named Professor Maureen O’Hara the Portfolio Management Research “Quant Researcher of the Year” for 2023. This award recognizes a researcher’s history of outstanding contributions to the field of quantitative portfolio theory. Read about O’Hara’s PMR award here.

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April 2024

Bridging the Bitcoin Holder Knowledge Gap

“Regulators fear the anonymous nature of Bitcoin,” Susan Joseph writes in Tabb Forum on April 8, “however, their concerns can be alleviated through innovative solutions like tracking activity and leveraging AI/machine learning to detect anomalies before requiring identification.” Read Joseph’s full piece, and the report it summarizes, here.

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Spring 2024

Cornell FinTech Club

Through projects in investment and engineering teams, weekly discussions, new member education, and corporate events, the Cornell Fintech Club (CFC)fosters a community for fintech at Cornell University.

Email: cornellfintechclub@gmail.com

Follow the club on LinkedIn

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November 2023

Fintech Student Fellows win PhD student awards

Pietro Bini and Artem Streltsov (pictured), both Fintech at Cornell student fellows and members of the Digital Economy and Financial Technology (DEFT) Research Lab, are recipients of distinguished alumni doctoral student awards. Bini has been named the recipient of the Byron E. Grote MS ’77 PhD ’81 Johnson Professional Scholarship. Streltsov is one of two recipients of this year’s Harold L. Bache Doctoral Award in Finance. Bache, Class of 1916, specified that the scholarship should focus on research which would strengthen financial institutions and lead to an academic career.

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July 2023

Cong joins IC3 Faculty Fellows

The Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3), a collaboration based at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech in NYC, announces the addition of Will Cong to its cohort of faculty fellows, joining members from Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Cornell Tech, EPFL, ETH Zurich, UC Berkeley, University College London, UIUC, SMU, and the Technion.

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July 2023

CHR and industry report on digital payments in hospitality

The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), with leading acquirer Worldpay and commerce platform FreedomPay, commissioned a study examining the state of digital payments infrastructure in the hospitality industry broadly. Their findings were published by CHR in Implementation vs. Rewards of Tech Investment.

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June 2023

Fintech Panel Debates Digital Currency

In a panel led by Fintech@Cornell executive director Susan Joeph, Cornell cryptocurrency experts debated the pros and cons of digital currencies’ purpose, privacy, governance, and stability. Read more here.

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February 2023

Digital Assets Roundtable Report Released

Prompted by President Biden’s Executive Order on Ensuring the Responsible Development of Digital Assets, the initiative hosted a June 6, 2022 Cornell Convenes roundtable in Washington DC. The product of that cross-industry discussion reflects nuanced opinions from the regulatory, academic, and industry perspectives. Release details here. Click here for the full 2022 Digital Assets Report.

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October 2022

Cong Among Top 10 Quant Professors

Will Cong has been named Top Ten Quant Professors for 2022 by Rebellion Research. This asset management firm applies machine learning and AI to investment decision-making tools.

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September 2022

Will Cong on "The Merge"

Bloomberg.com, reporting on The Merge, consulted Johnson professor and Fintech at Cornell faculty director Will Cong on the implications of this “next generation of Ethereum.” Noting that individuals need only load three programs and stake their own ether to activate validator software, Cong predicts the move will make entry more accessible.  Read more here. 

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September 2022

AI & Big Data in Finance Research Forum: Valuing Financial Data

Maryam Farboodi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present. More webinars in this monthly series can be found here.

July 2022

Best Paper awards for Cong, et al

The European Financial Management Association has given its 2022 Best Paper Award to Value Premium, Network Adoption, and Factor Pricing of Crypto Assets, co-authored by Cornell’s Will Cong and Andrew Karolyi with Tsinghua University’s Ke Tang and Weiyi Zhao.

Staking, Token Pricing, and Crypto Carry by Cong with Zhiheng He and Ke Tang, received the 18th Annual Conference of the Asia-Pacific Association of Derivatives (APAD) Best Paper Award.

Also this month, Tax-Loss Harvesting with Cryptocurrencies, authored by Cong with Wayne R. Landsman, Edward L. Maydew, and Daniel Rabetti, received the best paper prize from the 15th International Risk Management Conference as well as the CIRF-PBFJ Research Excellence Award at the 8th China International Risk Forum.

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Spring 2022

Cornell FinTech Club

The Cornell FinTech Club is the first all-encompassing, undergraduate-led club that aims to create spaces and opportunities for students in fintech through weekly discussions, an education series, and corporate speaker events. Club events are open to undergraduate and graduate students, to help foster a community for fintech at Cornell University.

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December 13, 11: 00 am-noon Eastern

What's In Your Wallet? Fighting for the Future of Money

Fintech at Cornell, in collaboration with eCornell, will host this Keynote webinar, featuring Chris Giancarlo, former Chairman of the US CFTC and current senior counsel at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher, in conversation with Johnson Graduate School of Management professor Maureen O’Hara, moderated by Rob Krugman, Chief Digital Officer of (Fintech at Cornell sponsor) Broadridge. Register here.

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November 2021

Will Cong fintech research recognized

Fintech at Cornell Faculty Director Lin William Cong has received the following honors for his work this month:

  • Asseth-Kaiko Prize for Research in Cryptoeconomics – Best Paper and Talk on Crypto-Wash Trading;
  • 4th UWA Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference, Best Paper (1st Prize), for work on Tax-Loss Harvesting.
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Cornell Convenes Report: Toward a New Bretton Woods

Roundtable Addresses Regulation and Privacy Issues

In April 2023, Fintech at Cornell hosted its second annual Cornell Convenes roundtable, bringing industry, academia, and regulators to the table to discuss both stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The conversation among 40 professionals in the digital asset arena promoted cohesion between regulators, industry experts, and academics. Chatham House Rule was observed to encourage open dialogue. The event’s white paper report, an informative summary of how each of the aforementioned parties can work together positively, is linked in the button below.

Download the Report - Cornell Convenes: Toward a New Bretton Woods
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Panel on New Crypto Policy and AI

In November 2023, Fintech at Cornell hosted a panel discussion titled: Cornell Crypto Policy and AI Lab Meet to Discuss How the IRS’ Proposed Regulations on Digital Assets Could be Catastrophic for the US.

This expert discussion featured Sarah Kreps, Professor of Government and Head of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell, John Wu ’92, Ava Labs, and Jason Schwartz, at Fried Frank was recorded. For more information, write fintech@cornell.edu

Watch the Crypto policy panel video here
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Will Cong appointed NBER research associate

The National Bureau of Economic Research has announced its latest slate of research associates, which includes Cornell SC Johnson College of Business professor Will Cong. Cong, who serves as Faculty Director of Fintech at Cornell, will join NBER’s Asset Pricing program. Faculty research fellows are chosen by the NBER president. Read more here.

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Susan Joseph featured on CoinDesk's Money Reimagined podcast

“Money Reimagined” hosts Michael Casey and Sheila Warren invited Susan Joseph, executive director of fintech at Cornell, and Cleve Mesidor, executive director of the Blockchain Foundation to provide insights on why crypto is not yet a diverse industry and steps to improve access and education for all. Listen to the conversation here.

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Diversity in Digital Currency

On Friday, September 24, 2021, Fintech at Cornell hosted an illuminating and far-reaching discussion on the future of financial systems in the digital currency world.

Watch Diversity in Digital Currency, with SC Johnson College dean Andrew Karolyi, Fintech at Cornell executive director Susan Joseph, and Circle’s Dante Disparte.

Email fintech@cornell.edu for more information.

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Cornell Convenes 2022 Digital Assets Report

First Roundtable Addressed Fintech’s Biggest Issues

Responding to President Biden’s 2022 Executive Order on Digital Assets, Fintech at Cornell embarked on the Cornell Convenes series of productive and frank discussions of ways in which to protect investors and consumers while protecting innovation. That event is summarized in the Cornell Convenes Roundtable White Paper on Digital Assets Regulation, linked below.  It represents the combined confidential expertise of ex-US regulators, current and past industry experts, and respected academics, shared at gathering in Washington DC in June 2022 and in subsequent working groups.

Cornell Convenes 2022 Digital Assets Report
SC Johnson College of Business Announces Sponsors of Fintech at Cornell Initiative

Moody’s Corporation and Fiserv announced as inaugural sponsors of Fintech at Cornell Initiative

Read the announcement
SC Johnson College of Business Announces Sponsors of Fintech at Cornell Initiative

Tata Consultancy Services and Broadridge Financial Solutions join the inaugural sponsors of Fintech at Cornell Initiative

Read the announcement

Cornell Blockchain

How two curious and technologically savvy SHA students forged Cornell Blockchain

SHA’s entrepreneurial bent and a fascination with Bitcoin led a pair of Hotelies to found a university-wide blockchain club for undergraduates.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE 

Read our top trending stories within the fintech space, custom-curated by our industry experts.

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Messaging May Overcome Bias Against Gene-Edited Foods

October 4, 2024

Consumers are less resistant to gene-edited ingredients when they learn about the technology's health and environmental benefits.

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Future Directions in Sustainable Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality

October 3, 2024

SC Johnson College of Business experts offered fresh perspectives on shifting travel and tourism toward more sustainable practices during Climate Week NYC.

CHR Virtual Demonstration of the New STR/CoStar Suite

October 3, 2024

Join the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) for a virtual demonstration of the new STR/CoStar Suite on October 30, 2024, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. This session will provide […]

In the News

View our most recent coverage in the media.

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Prasad on cryptocurrency and privacy

According to Eswar Prasad, the popularity of digital currencies could erode the last vestiges of financial privacy online.

Read Prasad’s April 1, 2022 piece in the Washington Post here.

Profile photol of Associate Professor Will Cong, Rudd Family Professor of Management

A digital dive into fintech

In this podcast episode, Will Cong, associate professor of finance and Rudd Family Professor of Management at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, talks fintech, blockchain, cryptocurrency, token, and bitcoin pricing.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

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Wirecard probe brings scrutiny to how fintech companies are audited

Luo Zuo, associate professor at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, explores how electronic-payment services may operate under several business models and use multiple accounting methods.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Contact us for more information or partnership opportunities:

Peter Krieger, executive director of external relations

pk286@cornell.edu

Fintech at Cornell is an initiative of Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

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2023 Conference on Emerging Technologies in Accounting and Financial Economics (CETAFE)

In late April, FinTech at Cornell and the SC Johnson College’s Accounting and Finance areas hosted and sponsored the third CETAFE, convening top global researchers, academics, and professionals to discuss the latest advancements and trends in accounting and financial economics. Conference topics ranged from video-based deception detection, blockchain technology, internal and external communication technologies, anomaly returns, indirect disclosure, decentralized exchanges, business complexity, inflation exposure, disclosure translation differences, and machine learning applications in recovering firm characteristics. Keynote remarks were provided by Princeton professor Wei Xiong, on the trade-offs between data sharing and consumer privacy. Conference program linked here. Summary linked here.