A top official at the Federal Reserve suggested that the central bank should allow its staff to hold small amounts of cryptocurrency. Michelle Bowman, the Fed's Vice Chair for Supervision, made this statement at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. She argued that direct exposure to digital assets would provide valuable insight for examiners tasked with policing crypto-related activities in banks and financial institutions.
Bowman stated that the firsthand use of digital assets would provide valuable insight for examiners tasked with policing crypto-related activities in banks and financial institutions. She compared the necessity of hands-on learning to learning how to ski, stating, "I certainly wouldn't trust someone to teach me to ski if they'd never put on skis, regardless of how many books and articles they have read, or even wrote, about it".
Currently, most Fed staffers and their spouses are barred from owning crypto or products that concentrate on crypto, such as exchange-traded funds or shares in crypto companies. The Fed tightened its rules on all investments in early 2022 after it was revealed that three top officials had unusual trading activity in 2020, as the regulator took action to support the U.S. economy in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bowman also suggested that allowing "de minimis" holdings of crypto could help the Fed attract and retain talent. She noted that many of the central bank's bank examiners come from private-sector backgrounds where familiarity with digital assets is increasingly valued. These existing restrictions may make public-sector roles less appealing to experts in emerging financial technologies. She did not specify what amounts or types of assets would be considered acceptable under a revised policy.
In her speech, Bowman urged regulators to shed what she described as an "overly cautious mindset" toward new technologies. She also urged them to be less skeptical of new financial products and "recognize the utility and necessity of embracing technology in the traditional financial sector". She cautioned that blockchain technology could "change the banking system regardless of how banks and regulators choose to respond".
Bowman's comments come as the Fed is grappling with how to regulate the rapidly evolving crypto industry. On Friday, August 15, 2025, the Fed said it would end a supervision program for crypto and blockchain-related activities undertaken by banks, which the Biden administration set up in 2023. The Fed stated that the “novel activities” oversight program is not needed because the Federal Reserve understands the risks and how banks need to manage them, and will be central to its oversight anyway.
Bowman also announced a fundamental shift in the Fed's approach to blockchain innovation. She revealed the central bank eliminated reputational risk considerations from bank supervision in late June to address barriers preventing financial institutions from serving digital asset companies engaged in legal activities. She emphasized that banks should not face penalties for serving customers conducting lawful business operations, stating that customer selection decisions "lie solely within the purview of bank management" rather than regulatory interference.
