Blockchain or distributed ledger technology [DLT] could help lower costs while making record keeping easier and more efficient, San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams said recently.

Speaking at Boise State University, Williams noted that people are increasingly understanding that digital currencies such as bitcoin would not replace government-issued currencies such as the US dollar, FxStreet reported.

The comments follow Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen’s recent remarks that the central bank is closely monitoring blockchain and financial innovation space.

“It [blockchain] is very important new technology that could have implications for the way in which transactions are handled throughout the financial system”, Yellen said last month.

In fact, the Federal Reserve has been increasingly taking interest in this innovative technology. In December 2016, the bank released a paper that focused on blockchain implementation in payments, clearing and settlement.

“DLT has the potential to also drive change to the financial market structure in ways that take advantage of the new technology”, the report said. “As the technologies and experimentation with these technologies continue to develop, it will be important to thoroughly understand how these changes apply broadly”.