Federal Reserve officials are fully fired at the crypto market: Thousands of junk tokens have no legitimate use cases

Cailian Press (Shanghai, editor Ale) reported that Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in a speech on Tuesday, "Five or six years ago, I was optimistic about cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin. But what I see now is... 95% fraud, hype, noise and confusion."

“You can create your own Bitcoin without any obstacles, and so can I, and I can call it ‘Neelcoin,’ ” Kashkari said. He pointed to Larry Simkins, president of the Washington Coalition of Companies, who was also present at the meeting. “Larry can create Larrycoin.”

(Kashkari photo source: Minneapolis Federal Reserve)

Kashkari continued: “Tens of thousands of shitty tokens were created. Some of them were complete Ponzi schemes. They scammed people into investing, and then the founders ran off with their money.”

The cryptocurrency community believes that Bitcoin can serve as a safe haven against inflation, especially in some developing countries. Kashkari scoffed at this view, saying, "I don't see any evidence that the United States is on the road to Venezuela."

Kashkari is skeptical of the prospects for cryptocurrencies, saying “besides funding illegal activity, I don’t see any legitimate use cases that Bitcoin solves.”

When an audience member asked him about the possibility of Miami launching a 'Miamicoin' cryptocurrency, he quipped: "If you want to launch Montanacoin, don't let me catch you."

Coindesk columnist Marc Hochstein was dissatisfied with Kashkari's "bombardment" of the crypto market. The banker with 17 years of experience pointed out that it was ridiculous for Kashkari to compare the openness of the crypto field with the U.S. government's monopoly on issuing dollars.

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Kashkari said in a television interview that the Fed's ability to pump money into the economy "is endless." Hochstein suggested that compared to Bitcoin, which has a fixed total supply (21 million), the U.S. dollar seems more like "printing whenever you want."

Hochstein believes that compared with Kashkari, other Fed officials have a more detailed and positive assessment of digital assets. For example, Quarles, the vice chairman for financial supervision, said in June that the United States should find a way to accept stablecoins.