Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, the chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve said the central bank is “not really seeing significant macroeconomic implications so far” with regard to the recent cryptocurrency volatility.

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Fast facts

  • Powell testified at the Senate Banking Committee that the central bank is carefully tracking developments in the crypto market, and “there’s a need for a better regulatory framework.”
  • “The same activity should have the same regulation no matter where it appears and that isn’t the case right now,” Powell said.
  • His comments come after the Fed last week agreed to a 0.75-percentage-point rate increase, raising the benchmark federal-funds rate to between 1.5% and 1.75%.
  • In May, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned Terra’s UST fiasco at a hearing and reiterated her stance on better oversight of crypto, including stablecoins.

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