Chris Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, shared his views on cryptocurrency technologies during his recent speeches. He emphasized that fears and biases regarding these technologies are unfounded.
Speech at Jackson Hole
In his speech at the Jackson Hole conference, Waller stated, 'There's nothing to fear when thinking about these things. Using innovative technologies to build new payment services is nothing new.'
Public Perception of Technology
Speaking at the SALT conference, Waller noted that some technologies have been unfairly demonized in recent years because of their association with digital assets. He emphasized, 'They're just technologies, why are they so maligned? If they offer more useful and interesting avenues, we should look at them and embrace them.'
Exploring Decentralized Technology Opportunities
Waller, who was appointed to the Fed by Donald Trump in 2020 and is seen as a strong candidate for the future Fed presidency, also noted that the Fed is exploring possible uses of tokenization, smart contracts, and distributed ledgers. He said, 'As a central bank, we may never follow this path, but there is no reason why we shouldn't explore it to see what happens.'
Chris Waller's remarks highlight the importance of being open to new technologies in the financial sector and the potential for their integration into the existing system.
