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Scott Shuey · · 6 min read

Bitcoin back above US$30,000 after surprising comments from Fed chair

Welcome to Token Issue! Delivered every Friday, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories in Asia’s crypto scene and beyond. View past issues here or sign up here to receive future newsletters.

Good news everybody,

We may actually be seeing the beginning of a truce in the US’ war on crypto.
Now, I’m not the type of person who automatically assumes the best outcome. I was training on the old journalism adage of “If your mother says she loves you, go check it out.”

So when I saw that Bitcoin’s price had jumped 20% in just five days, my first response was not – unlike many on Twitter – to post “We told you so!” My thoughts were more like, “What kind of skeezy rugpull is this?” ’Cause ya know: crypto.

But then I saw the news that US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had actually made some slightly positive comments about crypto assets in general and stablecoins in particular. This could be real.

In all fairness, the crypto shills out there will grab on to any bit of news to support their thesis that crypto is the future of money. So before we all go running off to crypto exchanges, let’s see if the other shoe drops. Powell’s comments will surely come with some caveats, or, more precisely, regulation.

With that in mind, let’s get right into our main stories.

— Scott


👀 ALL EYES ON…

What everyone’s talking about.

1️⃣ Crypto surges after Powell says crypto has “staying power”

On Wednesday, US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said that “crypto appears to have staying power as an asset class,” and that the Fed sees “stablecoins as a form of money.” Powell was speaking to lawmakers in Washington.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Those may not appear to be overly positive statements, but to the crypto industry – which has endured years of scorched-earth legal actions and the “all-your-crypto-are-belong-to-us” rhetoric of Security Exchange and Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler – Powell’s words are seismic.

His statements also indicate that the Fed will likely step in to regulate stablecoins.


⭐ TO THE STARS


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TIA Writer

Scott Shuey

Scott has worked as a journalist for over 20 years, including 18 years working in Asia. He covers emerging technologies such as AI and Web3. You can reach him at scott.shuey@techinasia.