Federal Reserve Governor Discusses Stablecoins At Vienna Macroeconomics Seminar

According to Odaily, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller shared his views on decentralized finance (DeFi) at the Vienna Macroeconomics Seminar held at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna, Austria. He highlighted that stablecoins represent a significant innovation within the DeFi space. Originating from the cryptocurrency world, stablecoins aim to provide a 'safe' asset with stable value for transactions. Most stablecoins are pegged one-to-one with the US dollar, offering buyers and sellers a decentralized method for conducting transactions using stablecoins as a settlement tool. Waller noted that since stablecoins are essentially digital currencies, they have the potential to reduce the need for payment intermediaries, thereby lowering global payment costs. However, he cautioned that their security is not guaranteed, citing historical instances of synthetic dollar runs. Stablecoins face the same challenges as any true dollar alternative. If appropriate safeguards can be established to minimize the risk of runs and mitigate other risks, such as their potential use in illegal financing, stablecoins could benefit the payment sector and serve as secure assets on various new trading platforms.