GuShiio.com Trump is practicing his usual friendly attitude towards the crypto industry before entering the White House. Many senior government officials and regulatory leaders are pro-crypto.
Written by 1912212.eth, Foresight News
Since Trump officially entered the White House, favorable policies have appeared frequently. Recently, Trump has nominated Jonathan Gould, former chief legal officer of Bitfury, as director of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), responsible for overseeing the national banking system. The nomination was submitted to the Senate on February 11 for a five-year term.
In addition, he nominated Brian Quintenz, head of a16z policy, as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The influence of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cannot be underestimated. It is one of the most influential banking regulators in the United States. Banks supervised by the OCC control most of the assets of the U.S. banking industry, including major banks such as Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America. Due to the core position of the U.S. banking system in global financial markets, OCC policies will affect international interbank transactions, the U.S. dollar clearing system and global financial stability. In recent years, the OCC has allowed national banks to provide crypto custody services and explored the integration of stablecoins and the banking system, which has a profound impact on the compliance development of the crypto industry.
Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, an advocacy group for the crypto industry, issued a statement saying that Gould is an excellent candidate to serve as director of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and that his experience in the crypto industry allows him to effectively lead the agency. Avichal Garg, co-founder of lectric Capital, also said that Gould’s nomination is a very positive development for fintech and cryptocurrency founders seeking better financial services.
So who is Gould that can receive such a high evaluation?
Glorious resume in encryption, law, and financial asset management
Gould graduated from Princeton University and subsequently earned a doctorate in law. During the first term of the Trump administration (late 2018 to mid-2021), he served as Senior Deputy Administrator and Chief Legal Counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Data shows that during his tenure at the OCC, Jonathan led the legal and licensing team through a period of major change, pushing the agency to update its regulatory and licensing framework to adapt to the development and evolution of the banking industry. These reforms include major revisions to banking regulations and involve the implementation of the Economic Growth Act. Under his leadership, the OCC approved the licenses of financial technology and cryptocurrency banks for the first time, confirming the legitimacy of crypto-related businesses, etc.
In 2022, Gould will serve as chief legal officer of Bitfury, which produces bitcoin mining equipment that was valued at US$1 billion a few years ago. Gould is currently a partner at Jones Day Law Firm.
He also served as a director at BlackRock from 2014 to 2018. BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset management companies. The assets under management (AUM) currently exceed US$10 trillion, making it a key player in the global financial market.
Gould is proficient in law and has worked for Bitcoin mining company and asset management giant BlackRock. He has good resumes in encryption, finance and law. If he is formally appointed, encryption may usher in loose regulation. Gould recently opposed Chokepoint 2.0 (severing crypto from banks) and wanted to provide fair access to banking for crypto companies.
CFTC nominates chairman from venture capital a16z policy leader
Trump recently nominated Brian Quintenz, head of a16z policy, as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Since the departure of the former chairman of the CFTC, Caroline Pham, who is currently nominated by Trump, is temporarily serving as acting chairman. Earlier this year, the Trump team interviewed multiple candidates, including CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger and Kraken’s former chief legal officer Marco Santori, but ultimately chose Brian Quintenz.
The main function of the CFTC is to supervise the U.S. derivatives market, especially futures, options and other derivative transactions. The derivatives include futures and options contracts related to commodities, stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, etc., and are also the most important regulatory authority involved in the cryptocurrency field. One of the departments.
Brian Quintenz graduated from Duke University. From 2001 to 2007, Quintenz worked in the office of U.S. Congressman Deborah Pryce as a senior policy adviser. In 2013, he founded Saeculum Capital Management, which focuses on risk management and technical analysis investment strategies.
In August 2017, Brian was nominated by Trump as a CFTC member, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in the same month to serve. During his tenure, he led the CFTC’s Technical Advisory Committee and chaired public policy discussions and briefings on cryptocurrencies. He also supports the development of tailor-made risk-adjusted regulatory policies for emerging areas such as decentralized finance (DeFi).
In September 2021, Brian joined Andreessen Horowitz as policy director for the crypto division.
During his tenure at a16z, Brian recently wrote an article saying,”When it comes to supervision, we can finally relax.” For many, concerns about overregulation have led project parties to delay using tokens to allocate project control and build communities. Now we should be more confident that projects will use tokens as a legal and compliant tool.
It is worth mentioning that after Brian was nominated as the next chairman of the CFTC, he tweeted that the CFTC plays a key role in market price discovery. The agency is also preparing to ensure that the United States is a world leader in blockchain technology and innovation. I look forward to working with President Trump’s financial regulatory team.”
In the past, the SEC and the CFTC have participated in enforcement actions in the supervision of the encryption industry. In addition, the two have also become a dispute over whether some tokens belong to securities. Recently, Forbes business reporter Eleanor Terrett disclosed that as digital asset regulation becomes a key task, the US SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are discussing strengthening cooperation in cryptocurrency regulation and considering restarting the SEC-CFTC Joint Advisory Committee, which has been suspended since 2014. Provide a platform for discussion between the two institutions on emerging regulatory issues.
summary
At present, Trump is practicing his usual friendly attitude towards the encryption industry before entering the White House. Many senior government officials and regulatory leaders are pro-encryption people. The haze that the encryption industry has always been severely regulated and suppressed in the past may dissipate, and a group of American blockchain entrepreneurs may usher in an era of the most relaxed policies.
