Tuteja has worked on TD Ameritrade’s digital asset strategy since 2008. She admits that she has been a bitcoiner since 2012 and has promoted it from her Twitter account.
“Since I heard about this esoteric thing called Bitcoin in 2012, the most wonderful thing for me has been the wide world that it opened to me. It has given the opportunity to connect with people, ideas, and places that I would not have run into otherwise.” These are the first words of an essay that Sunayna Tuteja wrote in November 2019. In recent days, she received the appointment as Chief Innovation Officer of the US Federal Reserve (Fed).
According to the portal of the Richmond Federal Reserve, Tuteja will be in charge of “leading the efforts to identify, research, enable and promote new technologies. At the same time, she must promote a culture of innovation, collaboration and experimentation,” which could resonate with the B word.
The new vice president of the Fed’s national information technology team has worked at TD Ameritrade since 2008. There she was dedicated to digital innovation and focused on digital assets for the past two years, according to her LinkedIn profile. She led TD Ameritrade’s investment in cryptocurrencies on the ErisX exchange, which the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates.
Ghada Ijam, the Chief Information Officer at the Federal Reserve, states that Tuteja “will collaborate with business and technology leaders. The objective is to formulate an agenda that advances technological research and leverages the innovation work that the Fed has directed.” He is probably referring to Central Bank cryptocurrency research currently underway.
A Bitcoiner Enters the US Federal Reserve
Until now, the US Federal Reserve has not adopted a very favorable position on Bitcoin. Boston Federal Reserve Chairman Eric Rosengren recently admitted his surprise at the “flourishing of Bitcoin.” However, he foresees that the cryptocurrency is coming to an end as he suspects “that a large number of central banks will have digital currencies.”
Unlike her more conservative colleagues, Tuteja has been outspoken on being a bitcoiner for years. On her Twitter account, she shares the Bitcoin white paper and shows her admiration for the resilience of the Bitcoin movement. In her essay “Cheers to Bitcoin”, she also recommends this industry as a source that inspires multidisciplinary learning.
Pragmatically, Tuteja has argued her reasoning about the success in adopting Bitcoin. She has not only watched it from its inherent monetary benefits but has also put it in the current context.
Tuteja is now part of a growing list of female bitcoiners working in the United States administration. She is joining Senator Cynthia Lummis, member of the Banking Committee Senate, and Hester Pierce, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner.
She may face a clash of beliefs over her confidence in Bitcoin’s limited supply monetary policy. For example, the Federal Reserve has promoted a policy of massive money printing in response to the current crisis. However, Tuteja’s essay suggests that she already knows that the conversion process goes from skepticism to conviction.
By Alexander Salazar
