Fed Chair Janet Yellen: Blockchain is a 'very important' technology that will benefit society

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen yesterday said blockchain is an “important technology” given its potential impact on the global financial system.

Yellen spoke yesterday at the Commonwealth Club, a US public affairs forum, and then participated in a question-and-answer session with club committee chairman George Scalise.

Scalise asked Yellen during the session whether the Fed — which published the first major academic paper on distributed ledgers in December — was looking to use the technology for its own purposes.

Yellen responded:

“Blockchain is a very important new technology that can have a significant impact on the way transactions are processed throughout the financial system. We are studying what possibilities this technology can bring to the technology we are currently using, and many financial institutions are also studying this technology. Blockchain technology can bring about a huge change in the way global transactions are cleared and settled.”

In some ways, Yellen's speech echoed one he gave last September, but the Fed chairman told a congressional committee that the technology could have a "significant impact" on the payments ecosystem both in the United States and abroad.

She said at the time:

“I think the innovations that these technologies bring will be very beneficial and will benefit society.”

The Fed is pursuing additional research on this technology and expects to release a follow-up research paper sometime this year.