Fed Chair Jerome Powell signals potential loosening of crypto rules for banks

There could be a "loosening" of crypto-related rules in banks' future, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

During an interview on Wednesday at The Economic Club of Chicago, Powell pointed to "a wave of failures and fraud" over the years, but said that the atmosphere itself is turning more mainstream. During the event, Powell also spoke about tariffs, immigration and inflation, among other topics.

"We took a pretty conservative, other bank regulators took an even more conservative perspective on the guidance and rules we imposed on banks," Powell said. "I think there will be some loosening of that."

"We'll try to do it in a way that preserves safety and soundness, but that permits and fosters appropriate innovation, but does so in a way that again doesn't put consumers at risk in ways they don't understand or make banks less safe and sound," he added.

Since President Donald Trump took office in January, federal banking agencies have shifted their stance toward digital assets. Last month, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said it would rescind old guidance and provide a new one to clarify that its supervised institutions can "engage in permissible crypto-related activities" without getting the agency's go-ahead beforehand. Earlier, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency clarified that crypto-related activities are allowed in the federal banking system.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are quickly moving to pass legislation to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins. Both the House and Senate have passed stablecoin bills out of their respective committees, and Trump has said he wants it on his desk as soon as possible.

Powell called the lawmakers' work on stablecoins a positive on Wednesday.

"Stablecoins are a digital product that could actually have fairly wide appeal and should contain consumer protections of the typical sorts and transparency, and that's what the Senate and the House are working on," he said.