Chainlink co-founder joins panel at Federal Reserve event alongside BlackRock, Vanguard executives
Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, is heading back to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia for the second year in a row. This time, he’ll share the stage with executives from BlackRock and Vanguard at the bank’s 10th Annual Fintech Conference, scheduled for September 24-25, 2026.
The panel will focus on how new regulatory frameworks are reshaping the digital assets landscape, with specific attention to stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council will moderate the discussion, which also includes a representative from Sharplink.
From fringe to Fed panels
Nazarov previously presented at the Ninth Annual Fintech Conference in November 2025, where he made the case for integrating blockchain technology into regulated financial systems. His pitch centered on Chainlink’s compliance-focused solutions, arguing that onchain infrastructure could actually enhance regulatory oversight rather than undermine it.
The regulatory backdrop
The Federal Reserve has been actively rethinking its approach to crypto and stablecoin firms’ access to the banking system. One notable development: the Fed has proposed “skinny master accounts,” a mechanism designed to give eligible crypto companies and stablecoin issuers direct access to payment systems.
Stablecoins and tokenized deposits will be central topics at the panel. Stablecoins function as dollar-pegged digital tokens used extensively in crypto trading and increasingly in cross-border payments. Tokenized deposits represent actual bank deposits on a blockchain rather than just pegging to a dollar value.
Chainlink’s positioning play
Chainlink operates as an oracle network, essentially a bridge that connects blockchain-based smart contracts with real-world data feeds. Price information, interest rates, compliance data: all of it flows through oracle infrastructure.
Nazarov’s pitch at the 2025 conference emphasized this compliance angle. Rather than framing blockchain as a tool for circumventing regulation, he argued it could make oversight more efficient and transparent.
What to watch
The skinny master accounts proposal will be worth monitoring closely in the months following the conference. If implemented, it could unlock banking access for a class of crypto firms that have struggled to maintain stable banking relationships. That would have ripple effects across stablecoin issuance, exchange operations, and institutional custody services.
The broader crypto industry should pay attention to the Atlantic Council’s involvement as moderator. The think tank has been increasingly active in digital currency policy research, and its role in facilitating these conversations between crypto firms, asset managers, and central banks suggests a more structured dialogue is emerging.