Fed’s Bullard sees cryptocurrencies shifting U.S. financial system | News

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cryptocurrencies are changing the U.S. currency system in ways that may facilitate illegal activity and instability in prices, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Friday.

“The current situation could be described as a drift toward a non-uniform currency in the U.S.,” Bullard said in a presentation prepared for delivery at an academic conference. “One suspects that consumers and businesses will not like a non-uniform currency in which many types of currency trade simultaneously at a variety of prices in a local market.”

While it is possible for multiple currencies to exist simultaneously and lead to more voluntary transactions, “in the real world, some of these now-enabled transactions may be illegal or quasi-legal,” he said.

He added: “Cryptocurrencies may unwittingly be pushing in the wrong direction in trying to solve an important social problem, which is how best to…