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US President-elect Joe Biden taps pro-crypto former CFTC chair for the transition team.

U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to collaborate in examining the risks and b
U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order directing federal agencies to collaborate in examining the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies.

The US President-elect Joe Biden has already begun assembling a team, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s former chairman, as part of his transition to the 46th President of the United States. According to a recent announcement from the ‘Biden-Harris Transition,’ Gary Gensler has volunteered to join President-elect Joe Biden’s team as a financial expert. The former CFTC chair will be tasked with ensuring as smooth a transition as possible with the Federal Reserve and banking and securities regulators.

“Cryptocurrencies need regulation to grow.”

Gensler served as chairman for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, under the former President Barack Obama from 2009 until 2014. He was known as a stringent regulator during his time as CFTC head, overseeing reforms to the $400 trillion financial derivatives market. The new financial team lead has said that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin need proper regulation to grow, arguing that investors should be protected in the event of market manipulation. He had previously stated that Initial Coin Offerings should be considered securities, placing them within the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s regulatory purview.

Crypto regulations in the US under the new administration

Democratic nominee and former vice president Joe Biden defeated the first-term Republican President Donald Trump to become the 46th President of the United States. While the former vice president didn’t highlight crypto issues in his campaign, some of Biden’s supporters hope he will advocate for reform on tech policies. However, at the time of writing, Donald Trump has not conceded. As to how the Biden administration will treat crypto, little is known from Biden’s record as all but one of his 40+ years as a senator from Delaware occurred prior to the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto’s now-famous white paper that laid out the principles and workings of bitcoin.

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