Biden Administration Decides Crypto Here to Stay, Seeks CBDC
We follow our initial client alert here with an in-depth analysis of President Biden’s long-awaited executive order laying down steps intended quickly to construct a U.S. digital-asset policy construct. Although sparked in part by virtual currency’s role in the Ukraine crisis, the executive order (EO) is a watershed event establishing for the first time that the U.S. views digital assets as a fixture of future finance warranting a rapid, far-reaching, and stringent set of governance, law-enforcement, equity, inclusion, and technology policy intervention. In general, the EO establishes a U.S. principle akin to that set by global regulators in this area: same-business same rules. Nothing in the order thus threatens SEC Chairman Gensler’s assertion that current law addresses many investor-protection challenges (see Client Report INVESTOR19) indeed, the EO strengthens the SEC’s hand by validating the chairman’s concerns.