New York Fed's Williams sees role for stablecoins, flaws for broader crypto

How the government should regulate stablecoins is a high priority of the Biden administration, New York Fed President John Williams said during the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Summit. He sees a role for stablecoins in payments — in cross-border payments as well as more generally, he said. Broader cryptocurrencies, though, have some "fundamental flaws" in that they're not being used as a means of exchange and the high costs involved, Williams said. While stablecoins and crypto are shaking up traditional financial and payment systems, he doesn't expect that they'll eliminate traditional systems altogether. "It isn't really about the end of banking — it's more of a hybrid approach," he said. "We need more from a whole business model point of view." Rather than replacing conventional financial systems, the new technology "creates a more complicated model," Williams said. "The focus is not so much on should it happen or shouldn't it