{"id":22425,"date":"2026-02-20T06:14:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/feds-kashkari-dismisses-crypto-as-utterly-useless-at-2026-midwest-summit\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T06:14:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T06:14:54","slug":"feds-kashkari-dismisses-crypto-as-utterly-useless-at-2026-midwest-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/feds-kashkari-dismisses-crypto-as-utterly-useless-at-2026-midwest-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Fed\u2019s Kashkari dismisses crypto as \u201cutterly useless\u201d at 2026 midwest summit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari delivered a blistering critique of the cryptocurrency industry on Thursday, dismissing digital assets as \u201cutterly useless\u201d and characterized by \u201cword salad\u201d marketing rather than functional utility.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_776bed939499d9234eda9e93cce009d0\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kashkari argued that after over a decade, crypto has failed to provide a compelling use case for U.S. consumers, unlike AI tools which have seen rapid, practical adoption.<\/li>\n<li>He dismissed the \u201cinstant\u201d cross-border payment narrative, noting that recipients must still pay high costs to convert crypto into local currency for daily essentials.<\/li>\n<li>The Fed official asserted that existing domestic tools like Venmo and Zelle already outperform stablecoins, and warned that nations will not abandon independent monetary policies for a unified crypto platform.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the 2026 Midwest Economic Outlook Summit, Kashkari challenged the fundamental value proposition of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. <\/p>\n<p>During a fireside <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DegenerateNews\/status\/2024508200465183172\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">chat<\/a>, he contrasted the tangible economic impact of Artificial Intelligence with the decade-long history of crypto, which he argues has failed to integrate into the real economy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NEW: U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE\u2019S KASHKARI SAYS CRYPTO PEOPLE GIVE HIM WORD-SALAD NONSENSE ANSWERS WHEN IT COMES TO EXPLAINING HOW CRYPTO OR STABLECOINS ARE USEFUL IN CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTIONS<\/p>\n<p> <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cmhfZoHgp4\">pic.twitter.com\/cmhfZoHgp4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DegenerateNews\/status\/2024508200465183172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">February 19, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Kashkari\u2019s crypto \u201cgrocery store\u201d test<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Kashkari was particularly skeptical of the claim that crypto excels at cross-border payments. Using a personal example, he described the hurdles of sending money to family in the Philippines. While proponents claim crypto offers \u201cinstant\u201d transfers, Kashkari argued the logic falls apart at the point of sale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow does [a recipient] buy groceries with it?\u201d Kashkari asked the audience. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey still have to convert it to the local currency, and that is still expensive. What advocates are really saying is that if everyone in the world used the same platform, friction would disappear, but nations are not going to abandon their own monetary policies.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Demanding clarity over \u201cbuzzwords\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Fed official urged the public and policymakers to stop settling for vague explanations. He described much of the industry\u2019s rhetoric as a \u201cbuzzword salad,\u201d noting that most \u201cinnovations\u201d offered by stablecoins are already handled efficiently by existing domestic tools like Venmo or Zelle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk the most basic questions and don\u2019t settle for nonsense,\u201d Kashkari warned. \u201cWhenever I make people really explain how this thing actually works, there\u2019s just nothing there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The remarks highlight a growing divide in 2026 between the central bank\u2019s skepticism and the commercial sector\u2019s expansion, coming just hours after the CME Group announced plans to move toward 24\/7 crypto derivatives trading to meet institutional demand.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari delivered a blistering critique of the cryptocurrency industry on Thursday, dismissing digital assets as \u201cutterly useless\u201d and characterized by \u201cword salad\u201d marketing rather than&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22426,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22425\/revisions\/22426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}