The Biden Administration Now Weighing an Executive Order on Cryptocurrency

The Biden administration continues to try to think of ways to regulate the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry. The latest move in this direction is the White House weighing an executive order on crypto as part of its efforts to set up a government-wide approach to cryptocurrency, reported Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.

According to this proposed directive, federal agencies would be studying and offering recommendations on crypto and covering relevant areas such as national security, economic innovation, and financial regulation. Also, the administration wants relevant agencies to examine crypto in other areas, including consumer protection, research, and innovation, competition policy, the official said.

The plans, which are still under consideration, will reportedly further aim to coordinate agencies’ work on crypto-assets throughout the executive branch, and those departments that haven’t given much attention to crypto will be pushed to focus on it as well.

By bringing in the Treasury Department and financial regulators to the Commerce Department, national security agencies, and the National Science Foundation, in the framework, the White House aims to take a unified approach to crypto.

According to a White House official, Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh is directly involved in the work. He is a veteran of the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Officials are also considering appointing a White House crypto czar to act as a point person on the issue, one person told the publication.

The draft would provide clarification as to the responsibilities of various agencies. Currently, it is circulating among senior officials and regulators. Different agencies will be tasked with examining relevant topics and reporting back on their findings, said the people.

Already, as we reported, the Presidential Working Group is examining stablecoins and considering regulating them as banks.

In response, Senator Pat Toomey sent a letter to the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week, urging the administration “to take a thoughtful, fair, and balanced approach to analyzing stablecoins” and ensure that they are fostering technological innovation instead of stifling it.