The Future of AI, Blockchain, and Regulation with Morgan McKenney

Written by Validation Cloud Team | Jun 12, 2025 1:19:28 PM

Alex Nwaka sits down with Morgan McKenney, former CEO of Provenance Blockchain Foundation, longtime Citi executive, and tech-led global operator, to discuss the convergence of blockchain and AI and what it means for the future of finance, blockchain infrastructure, and innovation. Morgan also announces her new role as advisor to Validation Cloud, bringing decades of leadership in finance, blockchain, and AI to help power the future of Web3 infrastructure.

Morgan is a global C-suite leader with deep expertise applying emerging technologies, including blockchain and AI, to reshape industries. She is currently a Limited Partner Advisor for Nyca, an early-stage fintech venture capital fund, and is focused next on enabling stablecoin ubiquity as the next form factor of digital money, and applying AI to solve challenging problems we could not solve well before. Morgan was previously CEO of Provenance Blockchain Foundation, focused on collaboratively transforming regulated finance. Prior to Provenance Blockchain Foundation, she spent nearly twenty years at Citi in a range of senior operating roles globally, including Chief Operating Officer for Global Consumer Banking for Jane Fraser, and leading large innovative enterprise payments products globally in Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, partnering with banks, corporates, digital natives and governments to help them operate their business and enable real-time commerce.

Episode Overview

Morgan explains we're in the “third inning" of blockchain adoption, with major banks investing in digital asset teams and momentum building from Bitcoin ETFs and stablecoin legislation.
A lack of regulation stalled institutional adoption; clear, bipartisan frameworks are now unlocking real movement.
AI is already impacting multiple enterprise functions; blockchain requires coalition-based adoption, making it slower but equally transformative.
Stablecoin legislation will unlock widespread blockchain-based payments—making digital dollars real, safe, and usable at scale.
Creating digital assets is essential, but real value comes from liquidity, transaction layers, and integration into broader financial markets.
Blockchain offers structured, immutable data and incentive mechanisms that help power trustworthy and scalable AI ecosystems.
Morgan announces that she joined Validation Cloud as an an advisor because of the company’s blend of Web3 infrastructure, performance-focused products, and growing AI capability.
How the exponential pace of change—from LLMs to agentic AI—will redefine work, software, and what it means to be human far faster than most expect.
Morgan's High Stakes Hot Take

About Validation Cloud

Validation Cloud is the AI platform powering Web3 finance. The company delivers products across Data x AI, Staking, and Node API—trusted by billions in staked assets with #1 global node performance. At its core is Mavrik, the proprietary intelligence engine that reimagines how institutions interact with and analyze Web3 data.

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