Ned Thompson

Vice President, Treasury Management Solutions; Bank Blockchain Advisor

Seacoast Bank

Ned Thompson is Vice President of Treasury Management Solutions at Seacoast Bank, where he advises C-suite executives on solutions that streamline receivables and payables, and consults with the bank's innovation team on tokenized deposits, stablecoins, and blockchain-based lending. A financial services executive with more than 20 years of experience, Ned has deep expertise in digital assets, with a particular focus on stablecoin payments. 

Before joining Seacoast, Ned introduced blockchain capabilities at Fifth Third Bank by onboarding Circle as the bank's first digital asset client, positioning Fifth Third within the USDC settlement network. He previously served as Managing Director of Business Development at Tassat, a New York–based blockchain company serving regional and community banks, and as a banking, blockchain, and innovation consultant with GLG, including research on central bank digital currency programs worldwide. He has also collaborated with Hyperledger Fabric and Polygon on blockchain solutions for supply chain and international trade. Earlier in his career, Ned spent nearly nine years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a treasury management officer and innovation product team leader, bringing on more than 500 new business clients in South Florida, following roles at Fidelity Investments and Santander Bank. 

Ned is a member of the American Bankers Association Digital Assets Working Group and the Global Blockchain Business Council. He holds a BA in Economics from Boston College, an MBA and a graduate certificate in Financial Markets and Services from Providence College, and a graduate certificate in Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard University.

Bart Smith

Managing Director and Partner

Performance Trust Capital Partners

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience in banking, Bart serves as an expert resource in bank strategy and regulatory matters. He is also the founder and creator of PT Score®, a risk management platform that is used by over 600 banks across the country. Bart began his career in 1985 as an Assistant Examiner in the FDIC's Houston, Texas Field Office. He received his Commission as an Examiner in 1989 and was promoted to Senior Examiner in 1991. During his tenure in Texas, Bart was instrumental in the examination and resolution of several large banks and savings and loans. In 1992, Bart accepted a Review Examiner position in the New York Regional Office, where he worked primarily with large multinational institutions. In 1997, he was promoted to the Field Supervisor position in Baltimore, MD where he had coverage of all field examination activities in Maryland and the District of Columbia. In 2002, Bart became the Territory Supervisor for the FDIC's Charlotte, NC office, which covers all supervisory activities in North and South Carolina, including several of the nation's largest banks. Bart held his position in Charlotte until joining Performance Trust in 2012. Bart holds an MBA from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He is also a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, and he has served on the faculty of several major banking schools over the past 10 years.

Nick Elledge

Co-Founder & COO

Stablecore

Nick Elledge is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Stablecore, a digital asset infrastructure platform that enables financial institutions to offer stablecoin, tokenized deposit, and other digital asset products through their existing banking technology environments. Prior to Stablecore, Nick co-founded and served as COO and CFO of an enterprise data and AI platform focused on data encryption, privacy, compliance, and security. He has also held roles in venture capital and management consulting, including Andreessen Horowitz and McKinsey & Company. Nick holds graduate degrees in business and international economic policy from Stanford University and Harvard University.

Arati Batta

Regulatory Expert

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Arati Batta brings 26 years of experience as a corporate governance and risk expert with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Possessing judgment and financial acumen, she has vast exposure to P&L statements, C-suites, and boardrooms of financial institutions with assets up to $150B in the US, Europe, and Latin America. She has expertise in ensuring the financial soundness and oversight of US financial institutions, with experience in compliance, audit, capital liquidity, fraud and regulations. She has shaped enterprise policy, authored Board Resolutions, and facilitated successful change management efforts at all levels. She enjoys sharing her knowledge especially to guide institutions on how to prepare for a regulatory audit and improve ROCA and CAMELS ratings. 

Arati specializes in guiding strategic growth and board effectiveness conversations that can enhance operational excellence. Her results-driven approach and supervisory perspective aim at assisting financial institutions with enforcement remediation workstreams, strengthening governance and risk culture, and converting regulatory compliance from a cost center into a source of resilience and stakeholder confidence. Further, she follows ongoing banking and credit union legislation in Congress with special interest in the execution of “The Genius Act” and the facilitation of Stablecoins into a safe mainstream financial instrument. Arati is a Board Member for “Women’s Business Development Council” and an Advisory Council member for the University Credit Union at UCLA. Additionally, she is assisting a Trust company that has received OCC approval to introduce its proprietary stablecoin in 2027.

TBA

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TBA