• Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, has elucidated the challenges and the future of cross-border payments, without mentioning cryptocurrencies.
• During the CPMI conference, Powell spoke in depth about ways to circumnavigate the sector’s current challenges, but he deliberately failed to acknowledge Bitcoin.
• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are already performing the recommendations laid down by the Financial Stability Board, but the chair of the Federal Reserve just wouldn’t mention them.

The CPMI conference, tagged “Pushing the frontiers of payments: towards faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payment,” featured Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve.

The Conference: Pushing The Frontiers Of Payments

The conference organized by the CPMI came against the backdrop of radical transformation in the cross-border payments field, with new payment methods and interfaces filling the space. Taking place on the 18th and 19th of March, 2021, the conference was held online and attended by major industry players.

Powell’s speech

At the end of the first day of the conference, Powell was invited to give the closing remarks. He gave a powerful speech about the problems faced by cross-border payments, which the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed.

Going further, he leaned heavily on the report by the Financial Stability Board and proffered innovative solutions for how to improve the current payment systems.

He began by reminding attendees that the G20 finance ministers had asked the Financial Stability Board to develop a road map to improve payments across borders.

While existing systems have been successful to an extent, they are still plagued by issues of “difficulty in managing payments across time zones [and] reliance on outdated technologies, and this translates to higher costs for cross-border transactions,” Powell said.

He further stated that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have laid bare the problems of the systems currently in place. In response to these challenges, the FSB has a goal to “create an ecosystem for cross-border payment that is faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive.”

In his five-minute-long speech, he consistently broached the innovations of Bitcoin in simplifying cross-border payments but failed to make mention of Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency.

On the Flipside

• Peter Schiff’s teenage son, Spencer Schiff, has converted 100% of his portfolio into Bitcoin.
• The decision doesn’t sit well with his father, who tweeted his disapproval, insisting his son is “this brainwashed.”
• The long-standing gold advocate explained that he couldn’t imagine “how vulnerable” the younger generation is.

Throughout the speech, Powell failed to make any mention of the giant strides made by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in improving the cross-border payments sector. However, the themes of the conference and the issues he broached strongly resonate with the core aspects of Bitcoin.

Since its inception, Bitcoin has become an important tool for effecting cross-border payments. Millions of people around the world have turned to digital currencies to solve their cross-border payment needs.

Through decentralization, Bitcoin has been able to cross the hurdles posed by geography and has incorporated blockchain technology to stifle the occurrence of fraud. The seamless nature of transacting with Bitcoin has made it a viable option for transfers, even in remote areas that have no access to traditional banking institutions.

Jerome Powell chose to completely ignore Bitcoin and instead commented on the Federal Reserve’s experiment with the FedNow service, which is to be launched in late 2023 or early 2024, and the proposed central bank digital currencies (CBDC).