Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell commented about the possibility of a central bank digital currency in the U.S. Following his new comments BTC price is approaching $12,000.
Bitcoin jumped from $11,519 to $11,837 before closing at $11,764 on Monday, which helped the benchmark cryptocurrency buck the trend of moving in tandem with the U.S. stock market, Bloomberg reported. The publication noted that the S&P 500 has dropped following the latest reports on a new government spending bill.
With this new price behavior, Bitcoin has inched closer to the $12,000 resistance, a key level that analysts said could put Bitcoin into new 2020 highs once it is broken.
In a virtual panel hosted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Monday that focused on cross-border payments, Powell mentioned that the Fed is currently evaluating the cost and benefits of CBDCs. However, the agency has not decided whether or not it will issue a U.S. CBDC.
CBDC is a type of electronic money that is backed directly by central bank reserves instead of reserves from a bank account. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts believe the IMF panel and the comments from Powell pushed Bitcoin’s movement yesterday.
Powell said the subject of CBDCs is one of those issues where it is more important for the U.S. to get it right the first time than be the first one to release it.