After a brief delay caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine, US President Joe Biden is expected to sign the executive order about cryptocurrency regulations this week. In it, sources said Biden would cooperate with other allies to ensure they were all on the same page.
The Delay of the Executive Order
CryptoPotato reported on February 20 the anticipation in regards to Biden’s latest executive order, which concerned the regulations in the cryptocurrency space. It was supposed to occur in the following week but plans changed when the Russian Federation launched a “special military operation” against Ukraine.
Instead of getting directly involved in the conflict, the US and its Western allies decided to take another approach and incorporated countless sanctions against Russia, its president, oligarchs, and everyone in between.
Amid those measures came the role of cryptocurrencies. On the one hand, reports claimed that Russians (and Ukrainians) turned to digital assets while their national currencies tumbled as the trading volumes skyrocketed. On the other, global watchdogs raised concerns that Russian oligarchs could employ the asset class to bypass the sanctions.
While that seems highly unlikely, at least according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Biden postponed the signing of the crypto executive order until further notice.
Biden’s Executive Crypto Order This Week?
Aside from the aforementioned participation, cryptocurrencies took another role in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine as the digital asset donations soared days after the invasion. This seemed to be the first time government officials asked for crypto contributions.
With the growing role of digital assets, new reports emerged now saying that Biden’s executive order on the asset class will be this week. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that the POTUS is expected to propose a “wide-ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market – including an executive order – to deal with the growing threat of ransomware and other cybercrime.”
With the events and concerns about Russia’s involvement with crypto, Biden also wants to coordinate his country’s actions with its allies in NATO, the sources asserted.
Additionally, they said he will also direct the Treasury, the Department of Justice, and other government agencies to outline a possible scenario on how the nation could adopt a central bank digital currency. The US has dabbled with this idea for a while but has yet to make a decisive move, while other countries, such as China, are well ahead.