A top Federal Reserve official believes central bank employees should be allowed to buy and hold small amounts of cryptocurrency to better understand how digital assets work. Michelle Bowman , who oversees banking supervision at the Fed, made these comments during a blockchain conference in Wyoming.
🚨 FED CONFIRMS BANKS CAN SERVE CRYPTO
Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman calls digital #assets “legal & permissible activities.”
Banks can’t use “reputational risk” to block $crypto clients @federalreserve Chair Jerome Powell already said banks are “free” to offer crypto services if… pic.twitter.com/fEzSU84nlL— COACHTY (@TheRealTRTalks) August 20, 2025
Currently, most Fed workers and their families are banned from owning any cryptocurrency or related investment products like exchange-traded funds. These strict rules were put in place back in early 2022 after some top officials got in trouble for questionable trading activities during the pandemic.
Bowman thinks these restrictions might be hurting the Fed’s ability to hire and keep skilled workers who understand crypto technology. She compared it to trying to learn skiing from someone who has never actually been on skis, no matter how many books they’ve read about it.
The Fed official also criticized bank regulators for being too careful and skeptical about new financial technology. She warned that if traditional banks and regulators don’t embrace blockchain technology, it might simply develop outside the existing banking system entirely.
Her comments come as the Trump administration has been taking a more friendly approach toward cryptocurrencies, recently ending a supervision program that monitored banks’ crypto activities.
Conclusion
Fed official Michelle Bowman’s push to allow staff crypto ownership signals a major shift in regulatory thinking. Her practical approach could help bridge the gap between traditional banking oversight and emerging digital asset technology.
Also Read: Top Crypto Assets in 2025
