Marsha Lipton’s journey has been anything but conventional. As the founder of Numeraire Future Trends, she leads a CultureTech company that specializes in AI-powered optical solutions integrated with blockchain technology. Her company is at the forefront of identifying and authenticating both physical and digital artistic and culturally significant objects. Her career began in a very different field—quantum chemistry. During her PhD studies at the University of Chicago, she was deeply immersed in mathematics and quantum mechanics. She was part of an esteemed group of theoretical chemists and physicists, that later produced Nobel Laureates from 2023 and 2024.
Marsha Lipton | CEO | NFtrends
At that time, finance was not on her radar. However, a growing curiosity led her to explore financial markets, and before she knew it, she was pursuing both a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry and an MBA while raising a newborn. It was a challenging period, but she learned that perfection was unattainable and prioritization was essential. At EliteX, we are proud to have Marsha Lipton as part of the edition: Top 05 Extraordinary Women in Tech, 2025.
The financial industry was undergoing a transformation, with mathematicians and physicists revolutionizing Wall Street. Marsha Lipton joined Bankers Trust during the golden age of derivatives and later became a Managing Director at JPMorgan. Her path was filled with challenges, but she embraced the unexpected turns. She firmly believes that opportunities must be evaluated, risks must be taken, and adaptation is key. Despite inevitable difficulties, persistence and resilience lead to remarkable destinations. She often reminds herself and others of the mantra, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down,” a phrase that has served as a powerful motivation in tough times.
“Collecting isn’t just a hobby; it’s a responsibility to future generations.”
As blockchain technology gained momentum in the late 2010s, Marsha Lipton remained skeptical of the hype. She preferred to look beyond popular narratives and examine the technology critically. A pivotal moment came when she engaged deeply with the book “Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers,” co-authored by her husband, Professor Alex Lipton, and Adrien Treccani. As its first reader and editor, she meticulously reviewed not only the text but also the mathematical formulas, contributing to the book’s clarity and accuracy.
Her exploration of blockchain led to the founding of Numeraire Future Trends. The company was born from a realization that blockchain technology had applications far beyond FinTech. As an art and artifact collector, she personally witnessed how technological advancements in digital printing and AI made forgeries more convincing than ever. The need for advanced authentication solutions became apparent. Technology can be both a threat and a safeguard. Numeraire Future Trends is dedicated to using AI, blockchain, and optical solutions to combat art forgery. The company’s Digital Product Passports employ unique Object AI Fingerprints captured directly from an item’s surface. These allow owners to verify authenticity using just a smartphone or a portable digital microscope. The goal is to ensure that authentication is both portable and scalable, making it practical for widespread adoption.
Marsha Lipton embraces the philosophy expressed by Albert Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” At Numeraire, the team prioritizes effective yet streamlined authentication and provenance solutions. However, technology alone is not enough. Preserving cultural and artistic heritage requires collaboration among museum curators, private foundations, galleries, and collectors.
Some collectors question the necessity of such technology, wondering if authentication efforts are even worth it. To Marsha Lipton, collecting is not just about acquiring objects; it is about preserving history for future generations. Authenticity and provenance are responsibilities that come with ownership. Those unwilling to take on that responsibility might be better suited to admiring art in museums rather than collecting it. Forgery is not only an issue for luxury brands but also a growing concern for contemporary artists, sculptors, and photographers. Many struggle as unauthorized copies and imitations of their work flood online platforms, devaluing their original creations. As the art world evolves, authentication becomes increasingly difficult, necessitating robust solutions.
“Technology is a double-edged sword—just as it helps forgers, it should also be used to stop them.”
AI has been explored as a tool for art authentication, but it has significant limitations. The primary issue is data. AI models rely on training datasets, and if the available data is limited or already contains forgeries, the results become unreliable and often produces results no more reliable than those of a human expert. There are multiple examples of well-documented forgeries of Fabergé eggs and disputed works by artists such as Rubens, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dalí. Without a large set of comprehensive and verified data, AI can only make educated guesses rather than definitive conclusions.
Numeraire Future Trends addresses these challenges by creating Digital Product Passports that incorporate digital fingerprints of objects. These solutions help collectors and cultural institutions ensure the identity of individual artworks in their collections. As technology advances, forgeries will only become more sophisticated, making immutable authentication more critical than ever. Establishing timestamped records for contemporary works immutably verifies their authenticity and preserving the identity of existing art are essential steps for the future.
The intersection of cutting-edge technology and blockchain’s immutable recording capability provides a unique opportunity to authenticate contemporary art decisively. Numeraire is committed to helping collectors, museums, and institutions maintain stable and verifiable collections and secure the integrity of the cultural ecosystem for years to come. Marsha Lipton’s journey from quantum chemistry to high finance and finally to entrepreneurship demonstrates her ability to adapt and innovate. Through her work, she is ensuring that the cultural and artistic heritage of today remains authentic and protected for generations to come.
“Opportunities don’t just fall into your lap—you have to evaluate them, take risks, and adapt.”