U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell thinks capital markets, as typified by the dogecoin craze, are a âbit frothy.â He also admitted that the central bankâs easy-money policy may have had something to do with that froth.
In a press conference Wednesday, Powell was asked whether he believed there was a risk to financial stability in trends such as the meme-inspired cryptocurrency. The Shiba Inu-represented crypto, started as a joke, is up more than 6,000% year to date.
The question was framed amid the backdrop of a relationship between low interest rates and easy monetary policy sparking increased interest in Gamestop stock and Dogecoin.
âYou are seeing things in the capital markets that are a bit frothy, thatâs a fact,â said Powell. âI wonât say it has nothing to do with monetary policy but also it has a tremendous amount to do with vaccination and reopening of the economy.â
In a bid to combat the fallout from COVID-19, central banks around the world have continued to flood new money into financial markets which, in turn, has had a major impact on cryptocurrency through asset price inflation.
Yet chairman Powell was upbeat about the U.S.âs prospects for a swifter economic recovery pointing toward âvery well-capitalized large banksâ and low funding risks amongst financial institutions.
âWhat has been moving markets a lot in the last few months is this turn away from what was a pretty dark winter to now a much faster vaccination process and a faster reopening.â
See also: Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Near Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases, Sees Inflation as âTransitoryâ