On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, UWest co-hosted the seminar, “Rethinking Monday in the Age of Cryptocurrencies,” featuring guest-speaker, Dr. Rod Garratt, former vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Dr. Garratt is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Fellow at the Luohan Academy of Alibaba Group. The seminar was well attended in person on UWest’s campus and live-streamed for over 150 attendees around the world, including students and teachers of the co-organizers and at the School of Business of Anhui University and the School of Economics and Management of East China Jiaotong University.

In the seminar, Dr. Garratt gave an overview of cryptocurrencies and their role in the current economy. Dr. Garratt broadly illustrated how market demands is set against existing, as well as future, research and development of digital technologies. Dr. Garratt further expounded on the democratization and decentralization of global finance. In terms of broadening access to financial market opportunities, Dr. Garratt keyed in on minimizing congestion and transaction fees, whiling managing risk, as important areas of focus. In Dr. Garratt’s view, an efficient form of digital currency already exists and that we only need to adapt it to new environments by adding new functionality.

The event was by co-hosted by the Department of Business Administration at UWest, along with UCI Paul Merage School of Business and Hebei Academy of Social Sciences. It was sponsored by American Plus Bank and Soleus Air Inc., in partnership with American Chinese CEO Society and Rosemead Chamber of Commerce. In addition, UWest thanks the following co-organizers for their support and participation: School of Insurance of Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing Foreign Studies University G20 Research Center, Henan University School of Business Administration, Nanchang University College of Economics and Management, Finance School of Shanghai University of Int’l Business and Economics, Yangzhou University Business School, Shaoxing University Business School, China Academy of Actuarial Sciences, American Chinese Education Association Shanghai Innovation Center, and Sichuan Risk Science and Emergency Management Research Association.