The new treasury secretary nominated by President Joe Biden is Janet Yellen. Some recent public comments made by the former chair of the Federal Reserve gave the cryptocurrency community the idea that the new treasury secretary wasn’t a big fan of cryptocurrencies, and would approach crypto regulations likewise.
Since her remarks during her virtual hearing with the senate where she asserted that cryptocurrencies are mainly used for illicit activities and terrorist financing, she has clarified her stance regarding Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
The Senate committee on finance recently presented a question to Yellen. It read:
“Dr. Yellen, what do you view as the potential threats and benefits these innovations and technologies will have on U.S. national security? Do you think more needs to be done to ensure we have appropriate safeguards and regulations for digital and cryptocurrencies in place?”
Yellen responded, saying “I think it important we consider the benefits of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and the potential they have to improve the efficiency of the financial system.”
She also stressed that cryptocurrency use must be encouraged for legitimate use cases. Yellen said:
“I think we need to look closely at how to encourage their use for legitimate activities while curtailing their use for malign and illegal activities.”
Yellen also noted that if she is elected as head of the Treasury, she’d take effective regulatory measures.
“If confirmed, I intend to work closely with the Federal Reserve Board and the other federal banking and securities regulators on how to implement an effective regulatory framework for these and other fintech innovations,” Yellen said.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Friday unanimously approved Yellen’s nomination and she passed with 26-0 in the evenly split committee. The full Senate vote is set for Monday, upon which she would take to the office.
More Crypto-friendly regulators
Meanwhile, Biden is set to appoint Gary Gensler, who formerly led the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2009 to 2014, as the head of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Gensler can be considered as another crypto-friendly regulator, especially because in his time at MIT, his research was focused on blockchain technology, digital currencies, financial technology, and public policy.
In conclusion, the Biden administration has quite a few crypto-friendly candidates in powerful positions. Hence, proper regulations can be expected in the coming year. This would be the much-needed boost the crypto industry needs, especially because the rate of adoption has been on the rise lately, following Bitcoin’s bullish rally.
