Biden Expected To Issue Executive Order On Crypto Oversight Next Week

By Kevin • February 20, 2022 5:17 pm • Comments

President Joe Biden is expected to issue a new executive order that will have government agencies investigating how cryptocurrencies should be regulated and the development of a central bank digital currency.

It is expected that the order to get various government agencies involved into the crypto space such as the Departments of Treasury, State, Justice and Homeland Security.

The agencies will be tasked on developing reports on digital payment systems and evaluating whether there is truly a need to have a central digital currency within the country.

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This new announcement does not come as a surprise for some in the crypto community as many had expected the government to eventually get involved despite government generally being slow to adopt to the rapid changes in the crypto industry.

Yahoo reports:

The move comes as Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that a rift has developed between the White House and Treasury over crypto regulation, but a Treasury official disputed the account as “inaccurate.”

The administration is engaged in a wide-ranging effort to regulate the sector, with the FBI forming a new crypto unit led by a seasoned computer crimes prosecutor.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), created after the 2008 financial crisis to monitor risks to the system, will be asked to study financial stability issues that arise from digital assets.

The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets has already tasked the FSOC with looking into systemic risks of stablecoins.

This week, Treasury Undersecretary Nellie Liang told the Senate that the council is discussing the prospect of risks stablecoins pose and taking steps to see what authorities regulators have.

Treasury is hopeful Congress will act since its authorities are limited.

The Attorney General is also being asked to understand what the growth of crypto could have on traditional financial systems and fiat currencies.

Apparently, the focus of the order is looking on ways to protect consumers and businesses as the order presents the notion that crypto could be a ‘risk’ in some ways.

The other main focus point is the issue of privacy and any issues that digital assets could create in this area.

The US government is also reportedly in talks with the governments of other nations to create standardized rules for crypto that could govern how crypto is adopted on an international level.

CoinTelegraph reports:

Altogether, the executive order — the 81st President Biden has signed since taking office in January 2021 — would reportedly be used to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States.

The previous administration issued 220 executive orders over four years, while President Barack Obama released 276 orders during his two terms.

Cryptocurrencies have been mentioned infrequently in executive orders during the history of the United States. The technology has only existed through the last three administrations.

In March 2018, Donald Trump issued an order banning U.S. residents from engaging in transactions of “any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token” released by Venezuela’s government, referring to the country’s Petro token.

The former president also mentioned “digital currency fraud” in a July 2018 order establishing a task force tackling market integrity and consumer fraud.

Investors expect that the regulatory pressure on the crypto industry has already been priced into the market and for the most part will not affect the growth of the industry due to its decentralized nature.

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