Fed Chair Yellen: Blockchain is an "important technology"

Rage Commentary : Fed Chair Janet Yellen and George Scalise, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Club, a US public affairs forum, conducted an interactive Q&A session on blockchain technology. Yellen fully recognized the importance of blockchain technology and its impact on financial transactions, and believed that it could greatly change the way global transactions are settled and cleared. At the end of last year, the Fed released its first blockchain-related report, and this year there are plans to release a follow-up research report.

Translation: Annie_Xu

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen says blockchain is a “significant technology” with potential implications for the global financial system.

During the speech session at the Commonwealth Club, an American public affairs forum, Yellen had an interactive Q&A session on this topic with George Scalise, chairman of the club's board of directors.

Scalise asked Yellen whether the Federal Reserve, which first published a study on distributed ledgers last December, would also adopt the technology.

Yellen responded:

"Blockchain technology is a very important new technology that will affect the way financial transactions are processed. We are exploring its role in the Federal Reserve's existing technology, and many financial institutions are also paying attention. It may greatly change the way transactions are settled and cleared in the global economy."

Yellen's remarks echoed what she said last September, when she said the technology could have a "very significant impact" on the U.S. payments ecosystem, among other things.

“I think innovations using this technology could be very useful and bring benefits to society.”

The Federal Reserve is currently studying the technology and plans to release a follow-up research report this year.