Lael Brainard, the Federal Reserve governor the overseeing new technology, says the decentralized method of record-keeping introduced by Bitcoin has the potential to transform multiple aspects of the financial system.CreditYuri Gripas/Reuters
Bitcoin was created by libertarian-minded programmers with a deep suspicion of central banks and the national currencies they issue.
Yet it is central banks that are doing some of the most ambitious work of late in trying to harness the technology introduced by Bitcoin.
The central bankers do not want their institutions to own or use Bitcoin itself. Instead, they hope they can use the decentralized method of record-keeping introduced by Bitcoin — known as the blockchain or distributed ledger — to complete and record transactions in the real economy more efficiently, quickly and transparently.
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