Bitcoin price and the overall crypto market reacted positively after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell recently stressed on the importance of private crypto-based transactions. He said that the Fed is working on a number of projects for digital currencies.
Bitcoin price surged over 5% on Tuesday, February 11, pushing it to a five-month high above $10,300 levels. With this move, BTC has surged nearly 50% since the beginning of 2020. At press time, BTC is trading 5.6% up for a price of $10, 304 with a market cap of $187 billion.
This latest price surge comes after the Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell expressed his interest in digital currencies. Congressman Bill Foster raised concerns about China’s aggressive push to the use of digital currencies. Responding to this, Powell said that the Fed has several projects underway.
This was enough to usher a fresh optimism in the crypto market. Apart from Bitcoin, a majority of the top-ten cryptocurrencies are showing gains between 5-10%. The overall cryptocurrency market cap added $20 billion soon after Powell’s comments, taking it to above $300 billion.
Powell Stresses Need for Private Crypto Transactions
Speaking on the issue of the American economy and its privacy policy, Jerome Powell also stressed the need for private crypto transactions. “A ledger where you know everybody’s payments is not something that would be particularly attractive in the context of the U.S.,” he said.
BREAKING: Fed Chairman Jerome Powell just came out in favor of private transactions for digital currencies.
He specifically said "A ledger where you know everybody's payments is not something that would be particularly attractive in the context of the US."
Game on 🙏🏽
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) February 11, 2020
The Feb Chairman also assured that the U.S. is taking sufficient measures to keep with the pace of China’s development. Powell said that the Fed is currently investing a larger amount in digital currency developments. The cryptocurrency market took Powell’s comments is positive as the market surged soon after.
Besides, Powell also acknowledged that Facebook‘s entry in the crypto space with its native Libra cryptocurrency has been a game-changer. Facebook announced its Libra cryptocurrency in June 2019 but is yet to get regulatory approval for the same.
However, Powell admits that his agency understands the importance of digital currencies. And now it is working on further progress in this direction. He also stressed the urgency of making quick progress on blockchain development.
But Powell remains a bit skeptical about the implementation of the Digital Dollar due to privacy concerns. He added:
“The idea of having a ledger where you record everyone’s payments isn’t particularly attractive in the U.S.; it’s not a problem in China”.
It will be interesting to see how the Fed works out its way to accommodate digital currencies in the country’s financial ecosystem. One thing is sure that digital currencies have a huge role to play in the global economy for the next decade.
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