The Federal Reserve's Payments Innovation Conference on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, marked a major shift as the central bank actively engaged with digital assets.
Key Takeaways
The most significant development was Governor Christopher J. Waller's proposal for a new "'skinny' payment account."
* Purpose: To give legally eligible innovators (including those in DeFi) basic access to the Fed's payment services without the full features of traditional master accounts.
* Features: These accounts would likely have balance caps, pay no interest, and lack discount window access.
* Stance Change: Waller signaled a new era, stating the DeFi industry is "not viewed with suspicion or scorn," emphasizing that innovations like stablecoins and tokenization are now "woven into the fabric" of finance.
The conference also featured high-level discussions on stablecoin use cases, tokenization (with leaders from BlackRock, Franklin Templeton), and bridging TradFi with the digital asset ecosystem. The event signals the Fed is moving toward active exploration of safely integrating DLT and digital assets into the U.S. payments system.
$BTC $HOLO $BNB