Former head of digital assets for TD Ameritrade is now the Fed’s chief innovation officer

TD Ameritrade’s former head of digital assets is headed to the Federal Reserve.

Sunayna Tuteja is now the central bank’s chief innovation officer, according to a LinkedIn update. Tuteja took up the role in February.

Tuteja had been at TD Ameritrade since 2014 prior to the transition. During her time there, she worked with emerging technologies, eventually as Head of Digital Assets and Digital Ledger Technology.

Tuteja headed TD Ameritrade’s dedicated crypto team. Her position built out the brokerage’s crypto offerings, building blockchain and crypto partnerships. TD Ameritrade’s crypto offerings include bitcoin futures through CME Group. It’s also an investor in crypto exchange ErisX.

Tuteja has spoken on bitcoin investment and the rise of decentralized finance, both at organized panels and on her personal platforms. She once told Blockworks that she herself is a bitcoiner, and she tweeted her admiration for the bitcoin community in December 2020.

“This is a community that keeps bouncing back every time they are written off, and bounce back stronger, having been stress tested in ways expected and unexpected,” she tweeted. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has taken an interest in innovation recently, saying the central bank’s work on assessing stablecoin risks is a “very high priority.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also encouraged the Fed to continue looking into central bank digital currencies, since she feels many questions remain. It is unclear exactly how Tuteja’s work will impact current innovation efforts and how her role will inform Fed activity..