On September 7, two financial representatives of the US government, Michael Barr and Michale Hsu made speeches outlining their views on cryptocurrency legislation.
Michael Barr gave his first speech in his new role as vice chair for supervision of the US Federal Reserve Board at the Brookings Institute.
Barr talked about his strategies in order to achieve the United States Federal Reserve’s short-term goals. The Fed vice chair mentioned cryptocurrencies in two separate contexts.
Barr spoke about “some of my near-term goals and how I will approach achieving them.” He mentioned crypto in two contexts. First, he asked for steps to control stablecoin and referenced past instances of private money causing economic instability.
First, he asked for measures to control stablecoin and provided historical examples of private money disrupting the system. In his speech, Barr spoke about his beliefs that “Congress should work expeditiously” in order to pass the needed legislating that aims within the boundaries of prudential regulation, especially the stablecoins intended to be used as payment methods.
Barr continued by discussing cryptocurrencies in general and stating his intention to defend the banking industry as well as bank clients.
“As we have seen with the growth of crypto assets, in a rapidly rising and volatile market,” Barr said. “Participants may come to believe that they understand new products only to learn that they don’t.”
The Fed vice chair completed his speech by stating that the United States Federal Reserve plans to “work with other bank regulatory agencies,” to make sure that cryptocurrency activity within banks is properly regulated.
He also said that according to the idea that, regardless of the technology used for such activity, all risks are to be treated the same and all activities are subject to the same regulations.
Michael Hsu’s Speech
The Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu also spoke about cryptocurrencies in his speech at the Brookings Institute.
Hsu said he saw potential red flags in cryptocurrencies’ unparalleled growth over the last couple of years. The Acting Comptroller of the Currency also stated that OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) adopted a “careful and cautious” approach to cryptocurrencies.
Aftermath
Unlike the recent Federal Reserve policy updates that resulted in Bitcoin having one of the worst months in its history, today’s speeches about crypto from two United States financial representatives have not made a significant effect on cryptocurrency markets today.
Bitcoin broke the $20,000 resistance line on September 6th. However, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had a positive day today.
BTC started September 7th at around the $18,700 mark. Throughout the day, Bitcoin had a near 3% appreciation in value, reaching $19,423 by the end of the day.
