Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller called to embrace the “technology-driven revolution” taking place in artificial intelligence and stablecoins as a way to boost the US economy, although some critics may be skeptical of all the hype.

“The technologies available today might be new, but leveraging innovative technology to build new payment services is not a new story,” Waller said in prepared remarks for the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium.

Waller has previously supported what he sees as some aspects of decentralized finance — including technologies that support virtual currencies — complementing the traditional payments system, pointing to distributed ledger technology, which offers more efficient and faster ways to track the transfer of assets.

On Wednesday, he emphasized that the impact of defi on payments — including mitigating risks — could be a win when the private sector and the Fed work together.

“There is nothing scary about this just because it occurs in the decentralized finance or defi world — this is simply new technology to transfer objects and record transactions,” said Waller, adding that the private and public sectors can both embrace innovation within their respective roles.

Crypto companies are weighing the strategic question of how much control they want over the way digital money moves — and whether to build new systems, rely on shared ones, or do both.

Read More: Circle’s Blockchain Sparks Clash Over Future of Digital Payments

The central bank in 2023 unveiled its long-awaited payments network FedNow as a way to allow eligible banks with accounts at the Federal Reserve to send money instantly. Prior to this network, the US had in some ways lagged behind other countries in the adoption of real-time payments.

Waller said the Fed is conducting research on the latest wave of innovations, including tokenization, smart contracts, and AI in payments.

–By Katanga Johnson (Bloomberg News)