Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller says the central bank is entering a “new era” in payments — one that openly embraces decentralized finance (DeFi), distributed ledgers, and digital asset innovation as part of the mainstream financial system.
Speaking Tuesday at the Fed’s first-ever Payments Innovation Conference in Washington, Waller said the central bank intends to play an “active role” in the crypto revolution transforming the global payments landscape.
The conference is ongoing, but Bitcoin’s price reacted positively after a rough night. When the conference started, Bitcoin’s price was around $108,000 but has now jumped to $110,321, at the time of writing.
Waller’s sentiment is a pretty striking departure from the caution and skepticism that have long defined U.S. regulators’ stance toward crypto.
“The DeFi industry is not viewed with suspicion or scorn,” Waller told attendees. “Rather, today, you are welcomed to the conversation on the future of payments in the United States — on our home field.”
According to Waller, distributed ledgers and crypto assets are now “woven into the fabric of the payment and financial systems.”
The Fed, he added, is studying new models for integrating emerging financial technologies with the legacy banking infrastructure — including a potential prototype for a new “payment account” framework that would expand central bank access to innovators in the space.
A “skinny” master account
Waller described the idea as a “skinny master account,” designed to give legally eligible institutions — particularly fintechs and payment firms focused on digital assets — limited but direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails.
These accounts would not pay interest, would have balance caps, and would exclude overdraft privileges or discount window access, but they would allow payment-focused entities to settle transactions directly with the Fed rather than through partner banks.
“This payment account concept would be targeted to provide basic Federal Reserve payment services to legally eligible institutions that right now conduct payment services primarily through a third-party bank,” Waller explained. “Payments innovation moves fast, and the Federal Reserve needs to keep up.”
From crypto resistance to engagement
Waller’s tone towards crypto is a massive policy shift in Washington. Over the past year, the central bank has quietly withdrawn restrictive guidance on crypto and stablecoin activity that discouraged banks from participating in digital asset markets.
It also removed “reputational risk” considerations from its supervisory programs — a long-criticized tool that many in the industry said was used to justify debanking crypto companies.
