Biden’s Cryptocurrency Executive Order: Big Deal or Nothing?

The President of the United States is the most powerful person on the planet, so when he gives an order, people take notice. That certainly was the case this week when President Biden signed his Digital Assets Responsible Development Executive Order, a long-awaited executive order outlining the White House’s view of the crypto industry.

“Executive order” certainly sounds impressive, but upon closer inspection, this particular order means nothing at all. ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin, who was asked to sum up the attendance order at Camp Ethereal on Thursday, said waving his arms and giggling, “Hey, all your agencies, get the key.”

It’s right. Biden’s order states that it is important that cryptocurrencies do not harm consumers or facilitate crime, and in a more hopeful tone describes the potential of cryptocurrencies for financial innovation and inclusiveness. This has been the stance of the crypto industry for years, but I guess it’s good that President Biden is now saying it too. The maximum that his predecessor did should have tweeted once“I’m not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” Anthony Scaramucci tweet doesn’t think Trump wrote himself.

As for the “Agencies, find out the key” part of the order, Biden gave a much-needed kick in the pants to the various federal government fiefdoms that had failed to establish clear rules on cryptocurrencies and were basically squabbling with each other. . The president directs the Treasury, along with the SEC, CFTC and others, to report within 180 days on exactly what they plan to do. For years, several agencies have fought over who will regulate the cryptocurrency; perhaps now they will converge on the same wavelength.

Ordering another report won’t bring immediate relief to the many crypto companies that the SEC is harassing or stymied, but it could get SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who is deeply hated by the industry, to step off his high horse and make some useful recommendations. .

However, the bland content of the order was mostly a pleasant surprise to crypto executives, who feared that Biden’s order might contain something out of the ordinary, like “shut down Bitcoin” or something like that. (Good luck with that.) This helps explain the industry’s reaction, mostly tepid optimism, after reading the order. Matthew Diemer, host of our Decrypt Daily podcast and current Ohio congressional candidate, called the reaction “a sigh of relief.”

In general, the decree is nonsense, which will maintain the status quo until at least next year. At the same time, it is entirely possible that Congress, suddenly overwhelmed with cryptocurrency bills, will act first and pass laws that will remove the tangle of tax and regulatory woes that have plagued the crypto industry.

But while Biden’s order will have little practical effect so far, it has tremendous symbolic value. Circle CEO Jeremy Aller called it “a game changer”. Who would have thought ten years ago, when Bitcoin was still an underground phenomenon, that in 2022 the President of the United States would send his staff to work on cryptocurrency policy? Here’s the takeaway: cryptographers should note that order exists at all. Everyone in crypto has come a long way.

This is Roberts in Crypto, a weekend column from Decrypt Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roberts and Decrypt Executive Editor Jeff John Roberts. Subscribe to the Decrypt Debrief newsletter by email to receive it in your inbox every Saturday. And read last weekend’s column: What DAO can do for Ukraine.

https://decrypt.co/94901/biden-crypto-executive-order-big-deal-or-big-nothing