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Alexander Lipton

Alexander Lipton, MIT and Stronghold Labs

 

Breaking the Bank

The modern financial system has introduced some fundamental problems into society. In order to increase transparency and minimize risk, the super complex monetary circuit has to be modeled in sufficient detail—a task that our current technology is unable to handle. New technologies such as digital currencies are now making it possible to simulate every trade and transaction. These tools could build more efficient financial networks and decentralize the control of money. People could exchange directly with each other instead of relying on banks. Although the potential for sweeping change is sparking fervent innovation, many variables remain. How these digital networks get built and used are critical factors in ensuring that they promote equity and accountability. New financial networks could stop the concentration of wealth and increase participation in the economy, but only if used with care. Extreme levels of centralized control are possible too. Joint work with Alex “Sandy” Pentland, MIT. Download Paper.

 

Biography

Alexander Lipton is Founder and CEO of Stronghold Labs, Co-Founder of Distilled Analytics, Partner at Numeraire Financial, Connection Science Fellow at MIT, and Visiting Professor of Financial Engineering at EPFL. He is an Advisory Board Member at several FinTech Companies. In 2016 he left Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he served for ten years in various senior managerial roles including Quantitative Solutions Executive and Co-Head of the Global Quantitative Group. Earlier, he held senior managerial positions at Citadel Investment Group, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Bankers Trust. In parallel, Alex held several prestigious academic appointments at NYU, Oxford University, Imperial College, and the University of Illinois. Before switching to finance, Alex was a Full Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois. In 2000 Alex was awarded the first ever Quant of the Year Award by Risk Magazine. Alex published seven books and more than a hundred scientific papers. His next book “Financial Engineering - Selected Works of Alexander Lipton” is to appear shortly.