Fed Governor: "Blockchain is Totally Overrated" Claims Crypto Is "Just Electronic Gold"

He said that CBDC whitepapers were similar to informationmercials.

Fed Governor: "These Things aren't Payment Instruments at all"

A virtual panel consisting of Hyun Song Shin (Bank for International Settlements) executive, Yale's Gary Gorton and Christopher Waller from the Fed discussed blockchain technology and CBDCs in great detail on Friday. Waller was skeptical about the idea of digital currencies in a panel discussion lasting an hour.

Waller stated that these items are not payment instruments during the virtual panel. These things are electronic gold, according to my view. These are forms of wealth storage that can be carried over time. Take a look at art and baseball cards. All of this stuff is so useless that people will pay a lot and keep it because they believe they can sell it later to get their money back.

Waller also stated that he does not believe blockchain technology to be efficient and that there is too much hype around it. The Fed Governor explained:

Blockchain is a completely overrated technology. The question is, is it the most efficient? Although distributed ledger blockchain can be used to do transactions and keep records, it is not efficient.

Waller has been skeptical about CBDCs and stablecoins in the past -- Fed Governor Says China's CBDC doesn't 'Threaten The Dollar'

Waller made comments about fiat-pegged digital currencies in a virtual conference held with members of Cleveland Fed. He also discussed the application regulations to the stablecoin market. Waller stated to participants in an October Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum discussion that he was skeptical of the Fed issuing a CBDC (or digital dollar) prior to the Cleveland Fed virtual conference statements.

Waller reiterated his doubts about whether the Fed should issue a CBDC during Friday's virtual discussion regarding central banking and digital currency. Waller has yet to be convinced that a digital currency for the United States' central bank is necessary.

Waller stated, "I am trying to concentrate on why we really need it rather than all the bells & whistles that go along with it." "I'm not convinced by [it] yet. While it's not that I cannot be convinced, I haven’t seen retail CBDC to support that belief.

Waller spoke about the U.S. and China's CBDC. He stressed that he does not believe that the U.S. dollar is at risk from the digital yuan. Waller offered his opinion on Friday, "What has China's central bank done?" They've allowed Chinese households access to a bank account at the PBOC in order to pay their electric bills. I don't see how payment accounts at a central banking could be a threat to the dollar in any form.