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Neel Kashkari Calls Cryptocurrency "Utterly Useless"

Neel Kashkari Calls Cryptocurrency "Utterly Useless"

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari escalated his criticism at the 2026 Midwest Economic Outlook Summit, condemning crypto as marketing hype lacking real-world utility despite years of development.

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Fact Check
Multiple independent and reasonably authoritative news sources consistently report that Neel Kashkari publicly described cryptocurrency as 'utterly useless' during a speech. The phrasing is directly quoted in several outlets, all indicating that these comments were made in a public forum. The reports are from reputable financial and crypto news organizations with high relevance to the topic, and they provide contextual details that make it unlikely the quote was fabricated or taken grossly out of context. No contradictory evidence is presented, and the consistency across sources strengthens the claim's validity. The small probability of falseness accounts for the possibility of minor misquotation or rare reporting errors, but overall the convergence of evidence makes the statement highly credible.
Summary

At the 2026 Midwest Economic Outlook Summit, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari labeled cryptocurrencies “utterly useless,” dismissing them as driven by “word salad” marketing rather than practical application. He asserted that digital assets, including stablecoins, have shown no functional utility after more than a decade, offering no meaningful advantages over existing U.S. payment methods. Kashkari’s remarks reinforce his long-standing skepticism towards crypto and stand in sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s pro-bitcoin and regulated stablecoin policies.

Terms & Concepts
  • Stablecoin: A type of cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, such as the U.S. dollar, designed to minimize price volatility.
  • Bitcoin: The first and largest cryptocurrency, operating on a decentralized blockchain and used as a digital store of value and peer-to-peer payment system.
  • Cryptocurrency: A digital asset utilizing cryptography for security, often operating on decentralized blockchain networks.