Bitcoin Rises After Powell Says Cryptocurrency 'Is Becoming More Popular'

Powell made these remarks on Wednesday during his second day of testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Bitcoin Rises as Powell Acknowledges Widespread Adoption of Cryptocurrency Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell faced criticism for the second consecutive day, this time before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where he acknowledged that cryptocurrency is no longer a dubious industry to be avoided but rather a promising initiative that is "maturing" and "becoming much more mainstream." The overall cryptocurrency market rose slightly by 0.10% following this news, while bitcoin increased by 1.38%, trading at a high of $108,000 in the morning. Powell is conducting his Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress, where he testifies before the House and Senate twice a year. Cynthia Lummis, the Republican Senator from Wyoming, known as the "Queen of Cryptocurrency," criticized Powell for his role in the Choke Point 2.0 Campaign, a Biden-era effort to de-bank the cryptocurrency industry. She acknowledged that the Fed is currently accepting more digital assets but also challenged Powell on the language contained in Section 9(13) of the Federal Reserve Act. The language in the law states that "the issuance of tokens on open, public, and/or decentralized networks or similar systems is very likely to be incompatible with safe and sound banking activities." With Powell's softer stance on cryptocurrency, Lummis asked him how his views had changed and whether the language in the law, passed by the Federal Reserve Board in 2023, would be removed. "What has changed is that if you go back a few years ago, that was the era of prominent failures and fraud," Powell explained. "What has happened is that the industry is maturing, our understanding of it is improving, and in a way, it is becoming much more mainstream." Regarding the removal of negative language in the legislation, Powell showed no commitment and told Lummis that he would respond to her.