Federal Reserve Should Buy Bitcoin, Says Sen. Cynthia Lummis

The U.S. Federal Reserve should acquire Bitcoin BTC/USD and hold it on its balance sheet, according to Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

What Happened: While on a panel hosted by the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation on Thursday, Lummis said she thinks "it's a great idea to be honest" for the Federal Reserve to hold Bitcoin, just like it currently holds more than $40 billion worth of foreign currency in its reserves.

According to Lummis, "Once there is a statutory and regulatory framework, that will make a lot of sense" since Bitcoin "is completely decentralized, is going to make it over time more ubiquitous and I think it's going to be something that the Fed should hold on its balance sheet."

Also speaking at the panel was Randal Quarles, former vice chairman for supervision at the Fed, who said he does not believe the Fed will add the cryptocurrency to its balance sheet anytime soon.

The news follows reports that pressure exerted by the Fed caused an outflow of Bitcoin at the end of January when about $670 million worth of the cryptocurrency left centralized exchanges.

See Also: Bitcoin Proponent Senator Cynthia Lummis To Introduce Comprehensive Crypto Bill In 2022