Biden expected to issue executive order on cryptocurrencies and CBDCs next week

Both President Obama and the previous administration have issued executive orders related to digital assets.

The White House will reportedly issue an executive order as early as next week directing government agencies to study different aspects of the digital asset space to create a comprehensive regulatory framework.

In a Yahoo report on Thursday, Schonberger said an official within the Biden administration familiar with the matter said the executive order could come as early as next week. President Biden’s directive will reportedly require the Attorney General’s Office, the State Department and the Treasury Department to study the potential launch of a U.S.-issued central bank digital currency.

In addition, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy — the newly appointed Alondra Nelson — will conduct an assessment of the infrastructure the U.S. needs to support a digital dollar. It is understood that the agency plans to release a report on distributed ledger technology to the President of the United States within 180 days and update its impact on the environment within 545 days.

According to the executive order, the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Board will study financial stability issues arising from the introduction of cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Reserve (Fed), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will consider measures to protect markets and report to the President to reduce cryptocurrency risks Methods.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission and the Attorney General’s Office will study the impact of digital assets on market competition. The directors and chairs of the first two agencies mentioned above will review privacy issues in this area, respectively.

The executive order is the 81st executive order signed by US President Joe Biden since taking office in January 2021. The executive order will reportedly be used to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States. The previous administration issued 220 executive orders over a four-year period, and President Obama issued 276 executive orders in two terms.

Biden expected to issue executive order on cryptocurrencies and CBDCs next week

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Cryptocurrencies have rarely been mentioned in executive orders in U.S. history. The technology only existed in the first three administrations.

In March 2018, Donald Trump issued an order prohibiting U.S. residents from trading in “any digital currency, digital currency or digital token” issued by the Venezuelan government, referring to the country’s Petro token. The former president also referred to “digital currency fraud” in a July 2018 order creating a task force to deal with market integrity and consumer fraud.

Another order from President Obama in 2015 suggested that authorities would be able to seize digital assets related to "significant malicious cyber activity." Under the National Emergencies Act, the executive action essentially allows officials to seize "funds or other assets" without "prior notice." In March 2021, President Biden extended the order until April 2022. Since then, the Justice Department and other government agencies have created a task force to trace and seize digital assets associated with illicit transactions.