According to Fed records, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on May 11.

Paul Ryan, the former House Speaker, also attended the meeting.

On May 14, Armstrong tweeted that he had “most of the [trong] Weeks to meet with members of Congress and heads of various federal agencies, ”Powell did not specifically mention.

The meeting took place less than a week before the Fed announced it would release a document detailing its research on a central bank digital currency.

The Fed has been working on cryptocurrencies for some time – it has been researching CBDCs, or central bank digital currencies, as a kind of state-controlled “digital USD,” although Powell stressed that there is no rush to develop such a currency. Powell has repeatedly stated that while China is already experimenting with a government-regulated digital currency, the US should proceed with caution.

“Designing a CBDC will improve key monetary policy, financial stability, consumer protection, regulatory and privacy considerations, and requires careful consideration and analysis – including input from the public and elected officials.”

The day before, on May 19, Michael Hsu, Head of Currency Computing, proposed the establishment of an interagency task force with the Fed and the FDIC specifically for cryptocurrencies.

The May 11 meeting between Armstrong and Powell coincided with a drop in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Over the course of this week, Bitcoin fell from a high of $ 50,000 to around $ 40,000.

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