Crypto’s Road Gets Even Harder With Biden Pick for Bank Watchdog
By Jesse Hamilton and Akayla Gardner
President Joe Biden may have just dashed any remaining hopes that Washington would warm to cryptocurrencies under his watch.The White House nominated Saule Omarova last week to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, all but confirming that U.S. financial regulators will be void of any crypto allies for at least the next three years….The crackdown is global, with China last week announcing a more restrictive ban on crypto transactions and mining. Karen Shaw Petrou, a managing partner at Washington research firm Federal Financial Analytics, said the darkening clouds showed market participants missed an opportunity to find common ground with regulators — and now it may be too late. Crypto “conveniently believed that spouting often dubious inclusion and innovation propositions would forestall regulation,” she said. The sector “was extraordinarily intoxicated with the cool factor.”