The U.S. Federal Reserve recently had a meeting with financial market experts discussing the economic, monetary policy outlooks and the rising popularity and appreciation of crypto.

Fed of New York Discussed Crypto With Market Experts

According to the minutes of the Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had a meeting with external advisors earlier in February discussing the economic and monetary policy outlooks in the United States. The meeting concluded with a discussion on the rising popularity of digital assets.

The committee attendees included Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, Paul T. Jones of Tudor Investment, Rick Rieder of BlackRock, and Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Partners. These investors are known to be Bitcoin proponents with Jones who recommends investing 5% of the portfolio in BTC.

Some committee attendees saw Bitcoin as an alternative store of wealth, comparable to traditional assets such as gold. Others see its current price level exhibiting bubble-like characteristics saying that the digital asset was not useful from a financial transaction standpoint.

At the same time, other participants said BTC stood the test of time, having weathered several financial crises while others saw longer-term risks from competitor cryptocurrencies and questioned its vulnerabilities to cyberattacks.

Fed Official Compares CBDC Rush to Parachute Pants

Randal K. Quarles, a member of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and its Vice Chair for Supervision, in a speech delivered on 28th June to the 113th Annual Utah Bankers Association Convention saying that the global rush to research and develop central bank digital currencies reminds him of Fear of missing out or FOMO.

Citing that the country has a habit of falling victim to a “mass suspension of our critical thinking and to occasionally impetuous, deluded crazes or fads”, he compared the current digital currency faze to the parachute pants of the 1980s noting its silliness.

He later concluded that the U.S. dollar’s role as “the dominant currency in international financial transactions” won’t be challenged by a CBDC.