Listen, cool news from the world of crypto — and this time from Jerome Powell himself, the head of the US Federal Reserve System. He recently told the Senate that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have reached maturity and have become much more popular. Can you imagine? A man who used to be pretty cool about crypto now admits that the industry has grown.
It all happened on June 25 during his speech before the Senate Banking Committee. Senator Cynthia Lummis asked him a specific question: what has changed since 2023, when the Fed issued a rather strict policy on stablecoins and crypto assets? Then, let me remind you, they said that the issue of tokens in open and decentralized networks is most likely incompatible with secure banking practices.
But now it's a completely different mindset. Powell acknowledged that the industry has matured and regulators' understanding has improved. Moreover, he bluntly said that the Fed is reviewing those decisions and statements that were made in the “Biden era” — that is, about 2-3 years ago. Regulators no longer look at the crypt as something outlandish and threatening.
Powell also noted an important thing: banks have the right to work with cryptocurrencies if they do it competently and safely. That is, the very fact of working with the crypt is no longer considered something dangerous by default. The main thing is that everything should be within the framework of reasonable regulation.
He explained that the policy statement on section 9(13) (the same document referred to by Lammis) is not purely about the crypt, but part of a broader regulatory framework. But the crypt is one of its key elements. This means that the revision of this section can seriously affect the rules of the game in the market.
So if the Fed does change policy, it will be a kind of “official recognition" of cryptocurrencies as a mature part of the financial system. In general, this can give a strong impetus to banks, funds and other players to enter the crypto market more actively.
And so I sit and think:
Is this a step towards the full integration of crypto into the global economy, or just another political gesture? What do you think?