Paul Brody is EY‘s Global Blockchain Leader and Chair of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, leading the professional services firm’s blockchain strategy since 2015 and building open-source tools including the Nightfall privacy network and the Starlight zero-knowledge compiler.

Who Is Paul Brody?

Paul Brody completed his early education at Colorado Academy before earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a certificate in African Studies from Princeton University.

Brody began his career at McKinsey & Co. in Los Angeles before spending time at IBM, where he served as Vice President and Global Industry Leader for Electronics. 

Across roughly 20 years in consulting and strategy work spanning startups, McKinsey, and IBM, he built expertise in mobile technology, electronics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and supply chain operations before joining EY.

For profiles of other builders shaping the Web3 industry, visit our crypto personalities page.

Paul Brody’s Career and Contributions

Brody joined EY in 2015 as Global Blockchain Leader, overseeing the firm’s blockchain strategy and investments across its consulting, audit, and tax business lines, with teams spanning the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He led EY’s first blockchain strategy engagement, examining how digital services, payments, and the Internet of Things were converging into new ecosystems, and building a strategy and technology roadmap for one of the firm’s major clients.

Under his leadership, EY has developed several notable blockchain tools, including the OpsChain tokenization platform and Blockchain Analyzer analytics tools, as well as the Nightfall privacy-enabled Ethereum Layer 2 network and the Starlight zero-knowledge compiler, both of which have been contributed to the public domain for the wider Ethereum community.

Brody also co-authored the 2023 book Ethereum for Business: A Plain-English Guide to the Use Cases that Generate Returns from Asset Management to Payments to Supply Chains.

Brody also serves as Chair of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, an organization that brings together companies, developers, and industry leaders to build open standards, making blockchain systems more interoperable and easier for enterprises to adopt. Under his leadership, the EEA has emphasized real-world use cases for Ethereum-based solutions that work alongside existing enterprise systems rather than replacing them outright.

Paul Brody’s Views and Positions

Brody has argued that stablecoins, not Bitcoin, represent blockchain’s biggest near-term use case. He noted that the Ethereum ecosystem processed $2 trillion in stablecoin payments in a single month, more than 99% of it denominated in US dollars, calling stablecoins “the killer app” that brings mainstream users on-chain, comparable to what email did for the internet. 

He has pointed to emerging markets facing high inflation as the earliest and strongest source of stablecoin demand, alongside cross-border remittances, where traditional transfers can take days and incur significant fees, compared with near-instant, near-free stablecoin transfers between smartphone users.

On the debate between stablecoins and central bank digital currencies, Brody has argued that the US doesn’t need a CBDC if well-regulated, fully backed stablecoins exist instead, saying regulatory safeguards should simply confirm that a dollar represented on-chain is backed by a real dollar or an equivalent asset held in reserve. 

He has been openly skeptical of CBDC projects generally, saying in interviews with central bankers he has found many “have no idea why they’re doing this” beyond competitive pressure from private-sector initiatives.

Brody has also assessed how blockchain technology threatens or benefits different parts of the banking sector. He has said banks earning revenue primarily from credit card transaction processing face the greatest risk, given the gap between typical 3% to 4% swipe fees and near-zero stablecoin transfer costs, while regional banks focused on corporate finance are less exposed. 

He has described major custody banks, naming BNY Mellon and JPMorgan as examples, as facing both a threat and a substantial opportunity, since firms already custodying client assets are well positioned to offer tokenization services on top of their existing custody services. 

On smart contract adoption more broadly, he has said the main barrier is that public blockchains still lack built-in privacy, comparing the current moment to the early internet before encryption existed, and arguing this is also why private, permissioned blockchains have struggled since participants inside them still can’t fully hide sensitive information like pricing from each other.

Speaking at Money20/20 of the YouTube channel “The Bank Tellers Podcast” in September 2025, Brody suggested that banks could act as “portals” for customers navigating DeFi, helping preserve the trust and guidance people expect from traditional financial services while still enabling access to newer platforms. He has said his broader goal is ensuring “open, decentralized and truly public blockchains are successful,” rather than closed or private alternatives. 

Readers interested in how stablecoins are reshaping cross-border payments specifically can find more in our coverage of 5 ways stablecoins make cross-border payments faster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Need a refresher? Here are the questions readers most often ask about Paul Brody.

What is Paul Brody’s role at EY?

Paul Brody has served as EY’s Global Blockchain Leader since 2015, overseeing the firm’s blockchain strategy and investments across its consulting, audit, and tax business lines. He has led the development of tools including the OpsChain tokenization platform, Blockchain Analyzer, the Nightfall privacy network, and the Starlight zero-knowledge compiler.

What is the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and what does Brody do there?

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is an organization that brings together companies, developers, and industry leaders to build open standards for enterprise blockchain adoption. Brody serves as its Chair, focusing on making Ethereum-based systems more interoperable and practical for real-world business use.

Why does Paul Brody think stablecoins matter more than Bitcoin for payments?

Brody has pointed to the Ethereum ecosystem processing $2 trillion in stablecoin payments in a single month, with more than 99% of the payments denominated in US dollars, as evidence that stablecoins, not Bitcoin, are driving actual transaction volume. He has called stablecoins blockchain’s “killer app,” comparable to what email did for the internet.

What does Paul Brody think about central bank digital currencies?

Brody has argued that the US does not need a central bank digital currency if well-regulated, fully-backed stablecoins are available instead, and has said in conversations with central bankers that many could not explain why they were pursuing CBDC projects beyond competitive pressure.

Which banks does Paul Brody think are most at risk from blockchain technology?

Brody has said banks that earn most of their revenue from credit card transaction processing face the greatest risk, given the gap between typical swipe fees and near-zero stablecoin transfer costs. He has described major custody banks as facing both risks and opportunities, since they are well positioned to offer tokenization services using assets they already hold in custody.