Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman has called for easing restrictions that prevent central bank staff from owning cryptocurrencies, arguing that hands-on experience is essential for regulators to grasp the technology shaping the future of finance.
Speaking at a blockchain event in Wyoming on Tuesday, Bowman said the Fed should consider permitting employees to hold small amounts of digital assets. She emphasized that direct engagement is key for regulators who will soon be tasked with overseeing issuers of crypto and other blockchain-based products.
“There’s no replacement for experimenting and understanding how ownership and transfer flows work,”
Bowman said, comparing it to learning to ski from someone who has never worn skis.
Currently, Fed officials and their spouses are broadly barred from holding crypto, crypto-focused exchange-traded funds, or shares in digital asset companies. The restrictions were tightened in 2022 after controversy erupted over trading activities by senior Fed officials during the early COVID-19 market interventions.
Bowman warned that the blanket ban may discourage skilled candidates from joining the central bank and limit current staff from developing the expertise needed to regulate emerging technologies. Allowing limited exposure, she said, would not only improve staff understanding but also strengthen supervisory capacity.
Her remarks also highlighted what she described as an “overly cautious mindset” among regulators, urging a shift toward embracing innovation in the financial sector. While some banks view blockchain as a threat to traditional business models, Bowman argued that the technology’s adoption is inevitable.
“We must choose whether to embrace change and help shape a framework that is reliable and durable, or to stand still and allow new technology to bypass the banking system altogether,”
she said.
Bowman acknowledged risks in adopting new tools but maintained that they could be managed against the broader benefits of efficiency, speed, and resilience.
Her comments follow a string of crypto-friendly moves under the Trump administration. Last week, the Fed announced it would shut down a Biden-era program supervising banks’ crypto and blockchain activities. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing financial regulators to probe claims of debanking raised by crypto firms and conservative groups.
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