The first fintech research center funded by the National Science Foundation
Innovations in industry are now driven by technology. Speed, security, computational power and novel analytical systems have become critically important to success on this bold new playing field. Responding to the urgent need for solutions to these new challenges, CRAFT, the Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies, was established in summer 2021 by Stevens Institute of Technology and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
CRAFT is the first research center funded by NSF with a focus on the financial industry. Working together, the center's academic and industry partners will collaboratively create innovative solutions such as decentralized finance, AI-enabled finance, quantum finance and solutions to climate-related impacts on investment, while also helping secure our financial data, create and test more equitable trading platforms, inform financial regulations, and support improved market simulation and stress-testing tools that ensure financial system stability for all.
Request for pre-proposals
CRAFT is seeking new pre-proposals for fintech-related research projects.
>>See RFP
Latest projects
See CRAFT's funded projects for the 2023-2024 cycle.
Become a member
By partnering with CRAFT, your organization will have the opportunity to shape an important national fintech research program.
In addition, CRAFT membership offers tangible business values:
Access to talent
Access to research results
Leveraged research dollars
Networking potential > More
What is fintech?
The “fin” in fintech includes:
design and operation of financial market infrastructure systems – exchanges, custody, clearing and settlement systems
banking services, credit creation, digital currencies, and payment systems > More
The “tech” in fintech includes:
distributed ledger technologies (e.g., blockchain)
quantum computing and communications > More
CRAFT Annual Report
See the 2022 Annual Report
As the global economy emerges from the shadows of the COVID pandemic, the fintech industry, while enjoying continued growth, faces challenges such as the crypto winter and ESG washing. Throughout 2022, CRAFT refined its strategic planning process to update its research map to better promote and align our commitment to our stakeholders. The center conducted surveys and workshops with our members to identify seven important vertical themes, which include explainable AI, decentralized finance and quantum computing, while keeping the related social concerns of fairness, accountability, responsibility, privacy and ethics in clear sight. This report provides additional details on the vertical themes and related research priorities.