Fed Chair Powell says bitcoin is like digital gold

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell drew comparisons to bitcoin and gold as the cryptocurrency's value closes in on $100,000. 

"People use bitcoin as a speculative asset, right? It's like gold," Powell said on Wednesday during The New York Times' DealBook Summit. "It's just like gold only it's virtual, it's digital." 

Bitcoin is not used as a form of payment and is really volatile, Powell said.

"It's not a competitor for the dollar," he said. "It's really a competitor for gold, that's really how I think of it." 

In June 2023, Powell reportedly told lawmakers that bitcoin has "staying power." Bitcoin's price is currently trading at around $100,000 following the U.S. presidential election in early November. President-elect Donald Trump has been open to the crypto industry and said in July that he would be the "pro-bitcoin candidate that America needs." Earlier in the day, Trump tapped former regulator Paul Atkins to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins is viewed as friendly toward crypto and was on The Digital Chamber's board of advisers in 2020. 

As of Wednesday afternoon, bitcoin's price hovered around $97,400, according to The Block's data . 

During the summit, journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin also asked Powell about his thoughts on crypto. 

Powell said the central bank "would want the interaction between the crypto business and the banks to not threaten the health and well being of the banks" and added that the Fed does not regulate crypto directly.

Powell was then asked if he would ever own crypto himself. 

"I'm not allowed to," Powell said.

Trump has reportedly been critical of Powell, specifically when it comes to the central bank's decisions around inflation. Powell said last month that he will not resign if Trump asks him too, and said that it is not "permitted under the law." Notably, the Federal Reserve is an independent agency and is designed to "not become subject to political pressures," according to its website .