Fed Governor Jerome “Jay” Powell has indicated he isn’t against bitcoin, but isn’t embracing the idea of a central bank-issued digital currency.
The heavy favorite to be named the next head of the U.S. central bank has indicated he isn’t against bitcoin, but isn’t embracing the idea of a central bank-issued digital currency.
President Donald Trump is expected to announced his pick for the next Federal Reserve chair on Thursday, and the latest reports indicate he has chosen Fed Governor Jerome “Jay” Powell. The current chair, Janet Yellen, is scheduled to end her term in February.
I have “nothing against bitcoin, nothing against, you know, private currencies,” Powell said in June at the Economic Club of New York. They are “associated with money laundering and those sorts of issues, but we’re not broadly opposed or supportive of alternative currencies.”
“I think from a Fed standpoint, I would say I am very cautious of the idea of a Fed digital currency,” Powell said.
Bitcoin jumped more than 6 percent to a record above $7,000 on Thursday.
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