Biden’s Crypto Executive Order Puts ‘Urgency’ On Digital Dollar Research

President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited executive order tasking federal agencies with researching cryptocurrencies and developing policy recommendations for the nascent market—a small, but crucial step in digital-currency adoption that helped major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, pare recent losses. Booming institutional adoption lifted cryptocurrencies to meteoric highs last year, but the lack of centralized regulation has long been a concern for several top U. S. officials, and concerns over harsh government regulation have rocked the nascent market before. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has repeatedly said cryptocurrencies deserve more government scrutiny, particularly because they can implicate securities, commodities and banking laws despite no regulation. Last year, he called on Congress to ramp up its authority over the cryptocurrency industry. "Right now, we just don’t have enough investor protection in crypto," he said. "Frankly, at this time, it’s more like the Wild West."$1.9 trillion. That's the value of the world's cryptocurrencies Wednesday morning, down roughly 36% from an all-time high above $3 trillion in November, but up a staggering 630% over the past two years. Though at least 86% of central banks around the world have actively explored the development of digital currencies, according to Bank of America, the Federal Reserve has remained cautious about its timeline for such a project, saying last summer that the central bank was "looking very carefully at the question of whether we could issue a digital dollar," but adding: “We don’t need to be the first. We need to get it right.” The introduction of a digital dollar "would represent a highly significant innovation in American money," Fed officials wrote in a January report. "Accordingly, broad consultation with the general public and key stakeholders is essential." The Wednesday order "encourages" the Fed to continue its research and asks it to help support the U. S. government's exploratory efforts. Under the executive order, the Treasury says it will partner with other agencies to produce a report on the future of money and payment systems. Fed Says Digital Dollar Could 'Fundamentally Change' The US Financial System—But It's Not Ready To Issue One Yet (Forbes)

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