Finchella Aims to Reinvent DC Fintech Week

By W.B. King

Billed as “enabling a new era of innovation,” the inaugural Finchella will be held in the nation’s capital from Oct. 14-17. The event is a rebrand of DC Fintech Week, which began in 2017 and ended in 2024. Hosted by The Fintech Foundation, organizers expect to welcome thousands of CEOs, technologists, venture capitalists, policymakers and regulatory specialists. In previous years, the conference was hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center's Institute of International Economic Law and various co-sponsors.

“The greatest joy of being an educator is not just shaping young minds but also creating institutions and experiences that serve the broader fintech and policy community,” said Georgetown University Law Professor Chris Brummer, founder of the D.C.-based nonprofit foundation. “For years, I’ve had the privilege of convening regulators, industry leaders, and scholars to explore some of the most pressing challenges in finance, technology, and economic opportunity. The new Fintech Foundation [which launched in April 2025] allows us to take this work even further, providing more opportunities for scientific and policy engagement, education, and impact.”

Brummer explained that the event, free and open to the public, offers an “expanded array of opportunities during the week and around the world to engage through small working groups, deep-dive sessions, and specialized venues for curated discussions.” Event locations in the region include the historic National Union Building and Amazon's HQ2.

“The demand for DC Fintech Week grew exponentially, with hundreds—sometimes thousands—of people on waitlists,” he continued. “It became clear that we needed to think bigger. The Fintech Foundation allows us to expand beyond just one week in October, fostering discussions year-round and bringing our unique blend of policy, technology, and innovation to an even broader audience—across geographies, industries, and backgrounds.”

An Exchange of Ideas

Among mainstage programming will be presentations on topics including banking innovation, tokenized finance and agentic artificial intelligence (AI). IBM defines the latter as a system that can accomplish a specific goal with limited supervision and consists of AI agents and machine learning bots that can reason, plan, and act with minimal human oversight to complete complex, multi-step tasks.

Brummer will serve as moderator on a few panels and fireside chats including, “Enabling Data,” which will feature Zachary Perret, co-founder and CEO of Plaid and Adrienne A. Harris, superintendent at the NYS Department of Financial Services.

For the panel “Have No Fear? Fintech, Finance and the AI Future,” Olivia Peterson, managing director at Amazon Web Services will serve as moderator and feature Greg Ruppert, executive vice president and head of Member Supervision, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), an independent, non-governmental organization that serves as a self-regulatory body for broker-dealers in the U.S. They will be joined by Sunayna Tuteja, chief innovation officer at the Federal Reserve System. Peterson will kick off the conversation by asking: “Can innovation scale without sacrificing oversight?”

Defining the Future of Global Finance

Brummer will also host a 30-minute, one on one discussion with keynote speaker, Paul Atkins, chairman, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “As the digital asset landscape rapidly evolves, regulatory clarity and sound policy are pivotal to maintaining market integrity and fostering innovation,” he noted. “Paul will outline the evolving role of U.S. financial policy in shaping digital asset innovation, market structure, and institutional trust in fintech ecosystems. He will highlight the intersection of policy, protocol design, and long-term confidence in next-generation financial systems—and share perspectives on how U.S. financial governance can lead—or lag—in defining the future of global finance.”

Other speakers include Justin Slaughter, vice president of regulatory affairs at Paradigm; Ryan Rugg, global head of digital assets at Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions; Brad Garlinghouse, CEO at Ripple Labs, a financial technology company specializing in blockchain and cryptocurrency solutions; Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn; Neha Narula, director of Digital Currency Initiative at MIT, Cuy Sheffield, head of Crypto at Visa; and Penny Lee, president and CEO of the Financial Technology Association; among many others.

For more information or to register, click here.