Biden’s Communications Director Banned From Former Crypto Clients: Report
US President Joe Biden will reportedly ban his communications director from handling matters related to crypto or tech firms he has previously worked with, while allowing him to advise on crypto regulation.
According to an April 22 Bloomberg Law report, White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt will be barred from “participating in legal matters, investigations or contracts involving cryptocurrency or technology firms he previously represented.”
Decentralized exchange UniSwap and venture capital firm Andressen Horowitz — an early investor in Coinbase Global Inc — were both former clients of Bully Pulpit Interactive (BPI), where LaBolt was previously a partner, according to a public financial disclosure report published on April 21.
Both firms were among a list of 23 clients who paid fees of more than $5,000 in a year to BPI.
Meta Platforms, Shopify and West Street — the family office of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg and his wife Priscilla Chan — were also included in the list of 23 clients that exceeded $5,000 in a year.
Meanwhile, in the assets and income section, LaBolt revealed that he has $50,001-$100,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) and $15,001-$50,000 in Ethereum 2 (ETH2).
“LaBolt’s restrictions are in line with ethics rules followed by other senior White House staff,” the report said.
Despite the restrictions expected to remain in place, it was reported that LaBolt will be allowed to advise on the president’s approach to regulating cryptocurrency and social media companies.
This comes after Biden signed an executive order (EO) on digital assets on March 9.
While the EO did not specify any regulatory actions, it outlined an interagency process that will involve 16 senior officials, initially tasked with producing an elaborate series of reports.
These reports must be delivered at intervals from 90 days to over a year from the publication of the EO.
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EO attracted attention from both government officials and industry leaders.
Republican “Crypto Senator” Cynthia Loomis of Wyoming commented on the executive order, saying “it’s great to see the Biden administration’s growing interest in digital assets.”
Meanwhile, Ari Redborn, head of legal and government affairs for blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, said he “expected certain things, and the positive tone wasn’t necessarily one of them.”
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