CHICAGO–Fed Chairman Jerome Powell indicated a potential “loosening” of crypto-related rules  could lie ahead.

In remarks to the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell cited the “wave of failures and fraud” over the years in the crypto space, but also suggested the industry has become more mainstream.

“We took a pretty conservative, other bank regulators took an even more conservative perspective on the guidance and rules we imposed on banks,” Powell said. “I think there will be some loosening of that. We’ll try to do it in a way that preserves safety and soundness, but that permits and fosters appropriate innovation, but does so in a way that again doesn’t put consumers at risk in ways they don’t understand or make banks less safe and sound.”

Administration Favors Digital Assets

Powell’s comments come at the same time the Trump administration has emphasized its support for digital assets. The FDIC, for instance, recently said it would rescind old guidance and provide a new one to clarify that its supervised institutions can “engage in permissible crypto-related activities” without getting the agency’s go-ahead beforehand. The OCC has expressed a similar view.