The recent decision of United States President Joe Biden will see that his communication director Ben LaBolt does not engage in any official capacity with his crypto clients as well as those in the tech industry.
As the new communication director for the Biden administration, LaBolt can not get involved In legal matters, investigations or even contracts that concern any crypto-related entity. This rule applies to even those that he was previously involved with.
Meta, Shopify in Connection With LaBolt
Before the enactment of this rule, businesses like Facebook parent company Meta Platform Inc., Haun Ventures LLC, and Shopify Inc. were all part of those represented by LaBolt.
Based on the report, LaBolt used to be a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive (BPI) before taking up the White House appointment. During his time there, venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) and decentralised exchange Uniswap were clients of the company.
Markedly, Meta, Shopify, Uniswap and a16z were recorded to be part of the 23 companies paying more than $5000 per year to BPI.
President Biden’s First Crypto Regulatory Framework
The U.S. president’s new rule does not stop the communication director from offering advice on regulating crypto or social media companies within Biden’s capacity.
Already, the first crypto regulatory framework under the president’s leadership was released last year. The framework addressed illegal crypto activities and possible solutions to combat their menace. The possibility of exploring a potential Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) was mentioned.
Also, the crypto regulation discussed how to harness partnerships with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). With the unfortunate implosion of the FTX exchange, President Biden made a critical call for global stringent crypto legislation, especially for Bitcoin (BTC).
Global Call for Crypto Regulation
Apart from the U.S., other regions have given a nod towards more robust crypto regulation. The November 2022 collapse of the Bahamian-headquartered crypto exchange caused a lot of havoc to the nascent industry.
The European Union is leaving nothing to chance in this regard. Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) also made an urgent call for vigorous crypto regulation during the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament.
Africa has been an area of interest for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in terms of crypto regulation. The organization has requested for more consumer protection laws for crypto users in Africa.
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