Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller told bankers and innovators this week that he urged bankers and innovators to accept digital assets as the next step in their payment system, saying that paying with cryptocurrencies is not scary.
At the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2025, Waller said smart contracts, tokenization and distributed ledgers are just new ways to record transactions. He rejected the traditional financial fear that digital assets pose special risks.
Waller tells Banks that Banks’ payments are safe to use.
Waller Advised bank Cryptocurrency payments are treated as a regular part of the payment method for goods and services. He said that financial technology always starts out as unfamiliar, but over time it becomes a part of people’s daily lives. He mentioned the history of how payment cards were developed and said that people questioned the stubcoin just as they did at the time.
Waller explained that stubcoins are unique because they are tied to US dollars and can move instantly at any time of the day. These features make them extremely attractive for everyday retail transactions, such as grocery purchases, bill payments and international remittances, with delays and high fees constantly becoming a problem.
He further emphasized the benefits of Stable Coins and said it could strengthen the position of dollars around the world. Coins allow people to securely hold and use the US dollar without having direct access to physical cash or US banks, thus benefiting countries with volatile local currencies.
Waller reminded the audience that all payment methods have a system to record and verify transactions, so smart contracts, tokenization, and distributed ledgers fit the same description. His message comes weeks after Congress passed the first federal law designed to provide a clear regulatory framework for Stablecoin publishers. Genius act.
Waller described the law as a major step towards helping stubcoins reach their full potential by removing uncertainty and reducing patchwork of state-level regulations. He explained that regulations allow businesses and banks to confidently plan their futures, so they should be viewed as a foundation for growth rather than as a barrier.
FED researches new technologies to improve payments
Waller reminded the audience that the Federal Reserve is constantly overseeing the financial system, highlighting its long history of innovating solutions that serve as the backbone of digital bank transfers. He said the Fed does not compete with private innovators, but rather provides guidelines for innovation to ensure stability and growth in the United States.
He also said the Fed is studying how tokenization, smart contracts and artificial intelligence make payments more efficient and secure. Waller said these tools are real advances that can be used immediately in everyday payment networks, like chips and mobile wallets.
His remarks coincided with fellow Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman, who shared the stage at the Wyoming blockchain symposium and warned banks to avoid cryptocurrency. Bowman pointed to recent changes to the Fed supervision guidelines in which central banks removed “reputation risks” to block central banks from providing crypto-related services. She urged the bank to take responsibility, not sit on the sidelines.
Bowman also proposed on Tuesday that Fed employees will be allowed to hold small amounts of cryptocurrency. Cryptopolitan. She argued that first-hand experience would help us to better grasp the markets overseen by regulators.
Bowman said that direct processing of digital assets provides important insights into crypto activity at banks and financial institutions.
She emphasized that true understanding comes from practical experience, and pointed out that if you have never actually skied, you would not trust teaching them to ski.
Waller and Bowman’s message showed that the Fed views Crypto as the latest financial innovation that takes shape in a matter of time. It also suggests that if banks continue to resist growth trends, they risk delaying a time when technology is moving faster than ever.
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