Senator Cynthia Lummis recommended to the Federal Reserve keep Bitcoin on its balance sheet

U.S. Senator for the state of Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, recommended to the Federal Reserve that it should keep Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

At a panel hosted by the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation yesterday, Lummis said the Fed should buy Bitcoin: “To be honest, I think it’s a great idea” since it has more than USD $40 billion in dollar reserves.

Lummis was responding to a question from panel moderator Matt Sandgren, executive director of the Hatch Foundation, who introduced the panel on the future of the cryptoeconomy.

“Once there is a legal and regulatory framework, it will make a lot of sense,” Lummis said. “The fact that Bitcoin is completely decentralized will make it more ubiquitous over time, and I think it will be something the Fed should keep on its balance sheet.”

You can watch the video of the event here:

Meanwhile, Randal Quarles, former vice chairman of supervision at the Federal Reserve, was also on the panel, but he is not as optimistic and does not believe the U.S. central bank will add Bitcoin to its balance sheet anytime soon.

“For a lot of political and economic reasons, I think it’s better to keep the Fed’s balance sheet, which is not the current one, but it needs to move more in that direction, entirely Treasuries,” he said.

Lummis revealed on the panel that his son-in-law taught him how to buy Bitcoin. As for how she first got involved in cryptocurrencies, Lummis said her previous job as Wyoming treasurer had her exploring a combination of assets, some that could have generated short-term income and others that represented a store of value, and that’s when she learned more about bitcoin and saw it as a store of value.

“Bitcoin is digital gold. It’s hard money. There will only be 21 million produced,” he said at the panel.

Lummis also believes that traditional banks will eventually integrate bitcoin and other digital assets into their offerings and establish cryptocurrency divisions.

He also referred to the crypto bill he is working on:

“This bill can logically be broken down into about five or six parts that are separate,” Lummis said. “We’re working with other Senate offices in both parties to see who is interested in working the banking component, the privacy component, the consumer protection component of this legislation.”