Ijeoma Okoli spoke with Cornell Law School students on Tuesday, 02/7/2023 over a lunchtime seminar.

The Seminar: Crypto’s Financial Services Evolution

The market capitalization of cryptocurrencies went from zero dollars in 2008 to approximately 3 trillion dollars at its height at the end of 2021.  Along the way, the product has gone from a niche idea among a small group of developers to creating multi-billion dollar companies and in some cases roping in traditional financial market players into experimenting with the technology underpinning crypto, while in other cases enticing such players to themselves invest or offer services in the sector.  This lecture will chart this evolution, including some of the major developments along the way, the risks posed by the sector and some of public policy debates relating to crypto taking place in the US and the UK.

About our Distinguished Guest:

Ijeoma Okoli

Ijeoma is an experienced executive and senior finance, securities and regulatory lawyer with extensive experience advising financial services firms and corporate clients globally. 

Ijeoma is also an expert on existing cryptocurrency regulation and public policy in the US and UK and the gaps that exist in the legal frameworks.  She speaks regularly on digital assets at institutions and conferences in the US and Europe. She was subject matter expert participant at the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s first ever Crypto Sprint where the regulator brought together experts to advise it on what its approach to crypto assets should look like in the future.

Ijeoma is a digital assets investments strategic adviser; a co-Founder and co-Director of the Digital Economy Initiative, an independent digital assets think tank in London focused on US and UK crypto public policy; a member of the Board of the Museum of London; and a founding member and limited partner of Impact X Capital Partners, an ESG focused venture capital fund.  She previously was an Executive Director and Digital Currency Risk Management Lead at JPMorgan focused on designing the firm’s global digital currency risk management and governance framework and analyzed and vetted crypto related business proposals. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of Aldermanbury Investments Limited, a JPMorgan subsidiary.  Since 2019, she has been a judge for the Power List of Britain’s Most Influential People of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage.  

She was listed on the 2020 FTSE Board Report’s 100 Women to Watch list, was named Investment Woman of the Year at the 2020 Woman in Investment Awards, won the Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award at the 2021 Women in Finance Awards, and was listed as one of Brummell Magazine’s 2022 Inspirational Women in the City of London and PitchBook’s 2022 Female Founders and Investors to Know.

Ijeoma holds a B.A. and M.P.A. from New York University and a J.D. from Cornell University.