US Federal Reserve to release anticipated crypto report ‘within weeks’
US Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, has revealed that the highly anticipated Fed report on cryptocurrency and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) would be released “within weeks”, at a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
The progress of the report was questioned by Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) at Powell’s second term (as Fed Chairman) confirmation hearing – a follow up on the multiple delays of the report which had an initial release date last September.
Powell said in response, “We didn’t get it to quite where we needed to get it… But it’s effectively there now, it’s within weeks [that] we will be publishing it.”
Powell was also asked by Senator Pat Toomey, a top Republican on the panel, whether any factors would stop an introduced CBDC from coexisting with a “well regulated, privately issued stablecoin,” to which Powell replied: “No, not at all.”
The report is expected to focus on CBDCs within the US and provide greater regulatory parameters around cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. The Fed’s attitude towards cryptocurrency was revealed in July last year when Powell said that the US had no plans on banning crypto outright, however suggested that a CBDC may be used in place of decentralised currency.
Calls for clarity surrounding crypto regulations have been previously requested by executives of digital currency companies including Coinbase and Circle.
