Robert Bench | Senior Advisor

Robert Bench is a Senior Advisor to the Digital Currency Initiative, a part of the MIT Media Lab focusing on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Robert is responsible for managing the DCI’s engineering and research efforts, as well as managing internal and external relationships for the DCI.

Prior to the DCI, Robert founded and led Federal Reserve efforts to research Central Bank Digital Currency, most notably Project Hamilton and OpenCBDC, a collaboration with the DCI. Prior to the Federal Reserve, Robert was an associate general counsel and chief compliance officer at Circle, where he particularly led regulatory, policy, and compliance efforts for the company. At Circle, Robert co-founded the Blockchain Association. Earlier in his career, Robert was a bank examiner, bank regulatory attorney, and consultant. He has taught law at Boston University School of Law and Harvard Law School.