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Last week, President Biden signed an Executive Order titled “Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.” The Executive Order outlines a whole-of-government approach to ensure responsible innovation in digital assets. As this Cleary alert notes:

The Order emphasizes the link between federal action and national security – both in terms of ensuring appropriate regulation and in staking out a U.S. leadership role in developing digital asset technology. Notably, in an area where some federal agencies have been criticized for moving slowly or failing to coordinate with each other, the Order mandates interagency cooperation on a series of reports, with most to be finished during 2022. The Order sets the stage for an active and potentially transformative year for U.S. regulation of digital assets.

The Order also sets out six principal policy objectives:

(i) protect U.S. consumers, investors, and businesses by ensuring safeguards are in place for digital asset exchanges and trading platforms to protect sensitive financial data and maintain privacy;

(ii) protect U.S. and global financial stability and mitigate systemic risk by ensuring compliance with regulatory and supervisory standards that govern traditional market infrastructures and financial firms, while adopting a regulatory evolution necessitated by the new and unique uses and functions of digital assets;

(iii) mitigate the illicit finance and national security risks posed by the illicit use of digital assets by ensuring appropriate controls and accountability to promote high standards for transparency, privacy, and security;

(iv) promote U.S. leadership in technology and economic competitiveness, including through the responsible development of payment innovations and digital assets;

(v) promote equitable access to safe and affordable financial services by promoting responsible innovation that expands equitable access to financial services, particularly for Americans who are underserved by the traditional banking system, including by making cross-border transfers cheaper, faster, and safer; and

(vi) support technological advances and ensure responsible development and use of digital assets in a manner that includes privacy and security in their architecture, integrates features and controls that defend against illicit exploitation, and reduces negative climate impacts and environmental pollution.

Check out more coverage of the Executive Order in our ”Initial Coin Offerings/Crypto Financings” Practice Area.

– Dave Lynn