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President Joe Biden signed an executive order last week that asks federal agencies to establish a roadmap for regulating cryptocurrency and identify risks and potential for innovation, US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler wrote on Twitter.
“The rise in digital assets creates an opportunity to reinforce American leadership in the global financial system and at the technological frontier, but also has substantial implications for consumer protection, financial stability, national security, and climate risk,” a fact sheet released by the White House read.
The order is the first time the executive branch has attempted to create a unified federal strategy around the growing digital asset industry, but it does not provide the clear regulatory guidelines many industry members have requested.
The order lists six focus areas for cryptocurrency policy and regulation: protect consumers and businesses, protect financial stability, mitigate risk, US leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness, financial inclusion and responsible innovation.
The order instructs agencies, including the Treasury and SEC, to research a variety of topics associated with digital assets and recognize potential risks and use cases, including the role a central bank’s digital currency may play in the US.
“Under the executive order, Treasury will partner with interagency colleagues to produce a report on the future of money and payment systems,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Wednesday.
“We’ll also convene the Financial Stability Oversight Council to evaluate the potential financial stability risks of digital assets and assess whether appropriate safeguards are in place. And, because the questions raised by digital assets often have important cross-border dimensions, we’ll work with our international partners to promote robust standards and a level playing field.”
Brian Deese and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s top economic and national security advisers, respectively, said the order establishes the first comprehensive federal digital assets strategy for the United States.
“That will help position the U.S. to keep playing a leading role in the innovation and governance of the digital assets ecosystem at home and abroad, in a way that protects consumers, is consistent with our democratic values and advances U.S. global competitiveness,” Deese and Sullivan said Wednesday in a joint statement.
