Policy Implications? Possible Joe Biden Cabinet Picks Have Crypto Opinions
According to a new report from Axios, advisers to Joe Biden’s 2020 U.S. presidential campaign are currently hashing out contenders for Cabinet picks, who — if Biden is voted into the White House this November — would become his top deputies atop some of America’s most consequential government institutions.
Notably for cryptoeconomy watchers, then, is how several of those reported contenders, like JP Morgan chairman Jamie Dimon, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, have directly engaged with the crypto ecosystem in the past.
Of course, crypto would undoubtedly be far from the these firgures’ first priority if they end up serving in a Biden administration. But they may help shape that admin’s policies at a time when the cryptoeconomy is entering its second decade, which will surely prove formative.
Dimon as Treasury Sec.?
Per Axios, the Biden camp’s Cabinet discussions aren’t yet advanced, but they have begun to take shape. One figure allegedly on the shortlist to serve as Biden’s Treasury Secretary is JPMorgan chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon,
Cryptoeconomy veterans will recognize Dimon for his pointedly critical comments about bitcoin in the past, for example when he called the bellwether crypto a “fraud” in 2017.
However, Dimon later expressed regret over that specific “fraud” remark and has since demonstrated a pragmatic approach to the blockchain arena in general. For example, he’s overseen JPMorgan build out the Quorum project and expand work on its JPM Coin dollar token effort.
If Dimon did hypothetically become the Secretary of the Treasury, he would replace President Trump’s current pick for the job, Steven Mnuchin. In contrast, Sec. Mnuchin has unapologetically bashed bitcoin in recent years and is currently working on tougher new crypto laws in America. As such, Dimon would probably be friendlier on the subject, even if not by much.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the Running, Too
Joe Biden’s advisers have also reportedly identified Elizabeth Warren, the U.S. senator from Massachusetts and recent 2020 presidential race dropout, as a possible pick for Treasury Secretary.
In Senate committee hearings in recent years, Sen. Warren has demonstrated a skeptical attitude toward the crypto space and frustration with U.S. regulators that haven’t put clear rules in place to protect users.
“The challenge is how to nurture productive aspects of crypto with protecting consumers,” Sen. Warren said in one of those hearings.
It stands to reason, then, that if the senator became the Treasury Secretary, she would take a consumer-first approach to any crypto policy matters.
Mike Bloomberg on the List
Like Sen. Warren, businessman Mike Bloomberg also recently dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, and the timing of that move was particularly fortuitous for Biden’s campaign. Will it be fortuitous enough to earn Bloomberg a spot in the former VP’s Cabinet?
According to Axios, Biden’s camp is considering tapping Bloomberg to head up the World Bank, a major financial institution on the world stage.
When he was still a presidential contender, Bloomberg sent the cryptoeconomy abuzz last month in announcing plans to implement a “clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies,” which was far more said on the subject than his presidential competitors had offered by then.
Specifically, Bloomberg’s framework would have aimed at clarifying how top U.S. regulators approach crypto, developing a clearer pathway for initial coin offerings (ICOs), and modernizing how the Internal Revenue Service taxes crypto.
Leading the World Bank wouldn’t be as big of a position as the Treasury Secretary, but Bloomberg would still seemingly have the opportunity to help shape Biden admin policy discussions around macro topics that could generally affect the crypto ecosystem, e.g. on things like the FATF rules.
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