Austan Goolsbee, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, acknowledged that the Fed is legally limited in what it can hold on its balance sheet, including Bitcoin. Chair Jerome Powell previously stated that the Federal Reserve Act prohibits the institution from holding Bitcoin and that they are not interested in changing the law. However, Powell recently mentioned that banks could provide cryptocurrency custody services following the SEC's removal of the controversial SAB-121 guidance. This statement was well-received by the cryptocurrency community, leading to a spike in Bitcoin's price. The likelihood of a Bitcoin reserve being created by the end of April has dropped to 16%, but many still expect it to happen this year. There are also state-level initiatives in states like Texas, Florida, and Ohio to create local Bitcoin reserves. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who proposed the U.S. Treasury buying Bitcoin, has made the creation of a reserve her priority as the head of a new Senate subcommittee focused on digital assets.



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