US Federal Reserve Official Says He's Interested in Bitcoin Technology

A representative of the US Federal Reserve spoke out about bitcoin today at a town hall meeting at North Dakota State University, Reuters reports.

Addressing the audience, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota indicated he is interested in bitcoin's underlying technology, but not its use as a currency.

Kocherlakota also responded to the suggestion that bitcoin could ever become a legitimate competitor to the US dollar, stating:

"That's where I think the interest of it is, myself, as opposed to a new currency that's going to drive the US dollar out of circulation."

The development notably follows Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's statements on the subject during an address to the Senate Banking Committee in February.

During that meeting

, Yellen noted that the Fed "doesn't have authority to supervise or regulate bitcoin" in response to concerned questions by US Senator Joe Manchin.

About the Federal Reserve

As the central banking system for the United States, the Federal Reserve issues the nation's coin and paper currency, though separate bureaus handle subsequent work.

Yellen became one of the first members of the agency to address bitcoin in February following the initial bankruptcy filing of Mt. Gox. During that address, she indicated that she saw bitcoin regulation as a matter for Congress, but downplayed the idea that the digital currency could in some way be regulated.

Said Yellen

:

"It’s not so easy to regulate bitcoin because there is no central issuer or network operator to regulate."

The Fed has most recently sparked controversy with its quantitative easing program that aimed at bolstering the US economy following the 2008 financial crisis.

About Kocherlakota

A graduate of the University of Chicago, Kocherlaokta became the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in October 2009.

There, he oversaw the operations of the bank, including supervision, regulation and payment services, according to his Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis bio. Kocherlakota was also named one of the top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine in 2012.

To learn more about about Kocherlakota and his economic policies, see his most recent video interview with The Wall Street Journal below.

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Federal Reserve image via Shutterstock