① San Francisco Federal Reserve President Daly believes that cryptocurrencies should be viewed as an independent asset class rather than being confused with gold.
② Daly stated that cryptocurrencies are complex and not yet ready to be considered 'money.'
On December 31, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly recently stated that cryptocurrencies should be viewed as an independent asset class, rather than being confused with gold as people often see.
Daly said on a podcast: 'I think cryptocurrencies are a complex thing, and we need to provide a service for everyone to truly interpret what it means and then call it cryptocurrency after doing that.'
She continued: 'It can be a currency. It could be a medium of exchange... It could also be a stock—a store of value or an asset that sometimes depreciates. We just need to define these terms.'
'So I don't think of it as gold. It just sometimes has properties like gold, but I don't think (it is the same asset as gold),' she added.
Daly's assessment differs slightly from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, whose comments on Bitcoin earlier this month energized the crypto community.
Powell stated at the time: 'People consider Bitcoin as a speculative asset. But I think it is like gold, it's just that it is virtual, it's digital. People do not view it as a means of payment or a store of value. It is very volatile. It is not a competitor to the dollar, but it is indeed a competitor to gold.'
To some extent, Daly also agrees with Powell's view that cryptocurrencies are not yet ready to become money.
She explained: 'The attribute it needs is that it must grow with the economy. So its value does not change because people want it. Just as when more people want a dollar bill, the dollar bill does not appreciate. What causes the dollar to fluctuate is the economy and our growth rate relative to other countries. Therefore, to be considered a currency, it must perfect this attribute.'
However, while it seems there is still a long way for cryptocurrencies to be recognized by Congress as money, it has not stopped the momentum behind various bullish trades on digital assets.
Since Donald Trump's election on November 5, the most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, continues to perform exceptionally well, breaking the $100,000 mark for the first time on December 4. Since election day, Bitcoin's price has increased by 38%, and it has risen by 106% this year.
Additionally, year-to-date, cryptocurrency-related stocks like Coinbase and Robinhood have soared 45% and 204%, respectively.
Investment bank Benchmark Company analyst Mark Palmer stated: 'The mere fact that someone is focused on making the U.S. a leader in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin mining, and other areas mentioned by President Trump is already a huge change. In our analysis, we assume that by the end of 2026, Bitcoin's price will reach $225,000.'
'We are seeing more and more institutions adopting Bitcoin, which is key,' he added.