The Pomp Podcast
Jesse Lund, Head of Blockchain Solutions at IBM: How Fortune 500s Treat Crypto
- Jesse Lund's background as head of blockchain solutions at IBM, previously 18 years in banking at Wells Fargo where he managed an innovation lab and early Bitcoin experimentation around 2013–2014.
- IBM's blockchain strategy focuses on enterprise use cases in supply chain, provenance, and payments rather than speculative cryptocurrency trading.
- Central banks are exploring blockchain and digital currency issuance, with IBM engaging dozens of them; sentiment varies widely between cautious skepticism and genuine interest in use cases like cross-border payments.
- International payments and cross-border settlement represent the most practical near-term opportunity to deploy blockchain technology, replacing inefficient correspondent banking networks.
- IBM uses a technology-agnostic approach, partnering with Stellar for digital asset creation and scalability, Hyperledger Fabric for permissioned networks, and recently joining the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.
- Lund forecasts a central bank digital currency issuance within 12–24 months, likely from a smaller nation whose currency is pegged to a major reserve currency, not from a top-five central bank.