During the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium 2025, Michelle Bowman, Vice Chair for Supervision of the U.S. Federal Reserve, presented a series of initiatives regarding the regulator’s interaction with the crypto sphere. She emphasized the need to revise banking supervision approaches in light of modern technologies, particularly blockchain and artificial intelligence.
This is reported by Finway
Focus on Technology and Regulatory Changes
Bowman elaborated on the shift in mindset among banking regulators, highlighting the necessity of combining security, consumer and business support, as well as fostering innovative technologies. She noted the importance of tokenization in addressing current issues in the traditional banking sector, as well as the integration of blockchain into core processes and assessing the potential of artificial intelligence to combat illegal activities.
Among other points, Bowman stated that the Federal Reserve should gradually move away from considering reputational risk during supervision, which will become part of measures against the debanking of certain counterparties. She also stressed the importance of ongoing communication with the industry and creating a specialized and proportionate regulatory framework for modern financial technologies.
Allowing Federal Reserve Employees to Invest in Crypto Assets
Michelle Bowman paid particular attention to the issue of engaging employees in the exploration of digital assets. She advocated for allowing Federal Reserve employees to hold a minimal amount of crypto assets, which she believes will help them better understand the principles of this sector:
“Our approach should allow Federal Reserve employees to hold a minimal amount of cryptocurrency or other types of digital assets so they can gain insight into how they work.”
She emphasized that even the best educational materials cannot fully replace practical experience in the field of crypto assets. Bowman also noted that excessive investment restrictions could hinder the attraction and retention of qualified personnel, as well as deepen the understanding of innovative technologies among the regulator’s staff.
Currently, the Federal Reserve prohibits its employees from investing in crypto assets and derivative financial instruments, including shares of exchange-traded funds. This tightening of rules occurred back in February 2022.
It is worth noting that in light of Bowman’s statements, former U.S. President Donald Trump previously signed an executive order calling for investigations into cases of debanking concerning crypto companies and certain political organizations. Additionally, in June 2025, the Federal Reserve officially announced its abandonment of considering reputational risk during the vetting of financial counterparties, which had a significant impact on the banking service policy for the crypto industry.