The Federal Reserve Act from 1913 incentivizes banks to join the Federal Reserve payments network. Let me update this to 2020s lingo: The Federal Reserve System is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that pays its stakers 6% annually. It has operated for over 100 years flawlessly. The stakers gain access to a market leading depository and credit system, and have the ability to voice opinions on some variables but the shares itself are non-voting. Like many kinds of entities such as trusts and foundations, there are no owners, only trustees.

The human interface to the system is a separate public agency called the Board of Governors, which simply tells the public what the Federal Reserve has done, and also communicates any changes to the Federal Reserve's charter (any legislative updates) to the DAO.

> Why did the Federal Reserve Act initially offer such a generous dividend to member banks? It was essentially part of a marketing campaign. “At the time the Fed was not terribly popular with the banks, and they wanted to attract members,” said Allan Meltzer, professor of political economy at Carnegie Mellon University and a historian of the Federal Reserve. “They had to give up a major source of revenue, the charge they made for check clearing. Back then, if you received a check for $10, you might get back $9.50.” The dividend was seen as a way to entice banks into joining the Federal Reserve system.

from: https://newrepublic.com/article/116913/federal-reserve-divid...