Frankfurt School appoints Co-Pierre Georg as Director of its Blockchain Center

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management has appointed Co-Pierre Georg as Director of the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (FSBC) and will appoint him as Professor of Practice in Digital Finance and Technology following the approval of the Hessian Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts. Starting 1 September 2024, the economist joins the Finance Department.

“Professor Co-Pierre Georg is an acknowledged expert in blockchain technology and how technology shapes the financial system. With his background he is ideally suited to manage our Frankfurt School Blockchain Center. We are looking forward to working with him”, says Professor Ansgar Richter, Dean of Faculty: “I am convinced that with his international experience Co-Pierre will contribute significantly to our goal of further strengthening the position of the Blockchain Centre as one of the leading European think tanks in blockchain technology and related areas such as crypto assets, central bank digital currency, tokenisation and decentralised finance.”

Professor Co-Pierre Georg adds: “The trajectory of Frankfurt School is impressive, making it one of Europe’s leading business universities. My research interests at the interface of finance and technology and my ambition to do impactful work fit perfectly with Frankfurt School’s focus on current issues affecting business, economics and politics. In particular, I am proud that I have been asked to lead Frankfurt School’s Blockchain Center and continue to develop the legacy of Philipp Sandner, who founded the Center and made it one of the leading institutions in its fields of research.”

Co-Pierre Georg

Co-Pierre Georg joins Frankfurt School of Finance & Management from the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he held the DSI/NRF Dual Research Chair in Blockchain Technologies and the South African Reserve Bank Research Chair in Financial Stability Studies. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School in France. Co-Pierre Georg obtained his PhD in 2011 from the University of Jena and later joined the Deutsche Bundesbank Research Centre. At UCT, he established a highly sought-after Master's degree in financial technology and launched the UCT Financial Innovation Hub. He is a Research Associate at the Oxford Martin School for the 21st Century and at the Center for Global Legal Transformation at Columbia University. He has held visiting positions at HEC Paris, EPFL, MIT, Columbia, Oxford, and Princeton. His research focuses on financial and social interconnections, privacy in distributed systems, digital property rights, and cyber security. In his recent work he is particularly interested in how technology shapes a new financial system. Co-Pierre Georg published in leading academic journals, including Operations Research, Research Policy, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Financial Stability, the Journal of Banking and Finance, Nature Scientific Reports, and Nature Physics.

Frankfurt School Blockchain Center

The FSBC has been founded by Professor Philipp Sandner. It is a think tank and research center focused primarily on investigating the implications of blockchain technology, and is also focusing on crypto assets, digital securities, the digital euro, central bank digital currency (CBDC), tokenisation of assets, decentralised finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In addition to research and prototype development, the FSBC serves as a networking hub for managers, start-ups, and experts to exchange knowledge and best practices. The FSBC also organises educational opportunities for students and executives, including on-campus courses, workshops, and conferences. Among others, the FSBC hosts the Crypto Assets Conference (CAC) and the DLT Talents programme to empower women in the blockchain space. The FSBC has co-founded the Digital Euro Association (DEA) and the DEC Institute, an organisation certifying executives' blockchain knowledge.