Major US Federal Reserve Bank Starts To Track Cryptos: A Signal That Cryptos Are Going Mainstream?

In a huge surprise move, The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (St. Louis Fed) announced that it is now officially tracking cryptocurrencies (cryptos) on their Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) platform. 

The St. Louis Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the United States’ central bank. The FRED index will include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

For their tracking to be possible, the St. Louis Fed is utilizing the indexing of the aforementioned cryptos being done by Coinbase.

The tracking is already live and you can take a look for yourself by following this link

Hold on…….What is indexing and tracking?

For starters, an index is just as a measure of something. In our case (of cryptos), an index is a statistical indicator of measuring and reporting changes in the market value of a group of cryptos (with are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum etc.). Since they are grouped together and their changes are being reported, the crypto’s are therefore being ‘tracked’ (tracking)

The FRED index will function the same way stock indices like such as Dow Jones Industrial Average, Russell 1000, Standard and Poor’s 500, only that the index will track the performance of cryptos.

Could this move by such an institution signal that cryptos have come of age to enter the mainstream?

I suppose the inclusion of cryptos prices is a turning point for the emerging technology, as FRED is a key seal of legitimacy and marks the maturation of Bitcoin and altcoins. It indicates the growing integration of cryptos mainstream financial systems and shows that banks are paying very close attention to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum and other major cryptos.

Despite the long list of Bitcoin skeptics like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, ‘digital’ assets seem to be no longer regarded solely as instruments of value for crooks and criminals. 

Keeping records on cryptos value data like they do currencies of foreign nations and commodities is not to be taken likely. The St. Louis Fed’s motion suggests that it now see cryptos as economic assets that are worth more than just casually monitoring.

It’s a sign the St. Louis Fed foresees that cryptos are here to stay.  This wouldn’t be worth doing if they thought otherwise. Also, the move could maybe send a message to other central bankers (like the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) telling them that rather than trying to fight this new type of ‘asset’, its time they should start preparing to accommodate it.

Also Read: RBZ Bans Bitcoin And Other Virtual Currencies In Zimbabwe

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