US President Joe Biden will bar his communications director from discussing matters related to cryptocurrency or technology companies he has previously worked with, although he will allow him to advise on cryptocurrency regulation.
According to a Bloomberg Law report on April 22, White House communications director Ben LaBolt will be barred from “participating in legal matters, investigations, or contracts involving cryptocurrency or technology companies that he has 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 Jan. 21. April.
Both companies were on a list of 23 clients who paid fees in excess of $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 on the list of 23 clients that exceeded $5,000 in a year.
Meanwhile, in the assets and income section, LaBolt revealed that he owns between $50,001 and $100,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) and between $15,001 and $50,000 in Ethereum 2 (ETH2).
“LaBolt’s restrictions are in line with ethical standards followed by other senior White House officials,” the report stated.
Despite the restrictions that are expected to be put in place, it was reported that LaBolt will be allowed to advise on the president’s approach to regulating cryptocurrencies and social media companies.
This comes after Biden signed an executive order (OE) on digital assets on March 9.
Although the EO did not specify any regulatory measures, it outlined an inter-agency process involving 16 senior officials and which will initially begin with the task of producing a series of reports.
These reports must be submitted at intervals of between 90 days and more than one year from the publication of the EO.
The SO attracted the attention of officials and industry leaders alike.
Republican “crypto-senator” Cynthia Loomis of Wyoming commented on the executive order, saying that “it’s great to see the Biden administration’s growing interest in digital assets.”
For his part, Ari Redborn, head of legal and government affairs at blockchain-based intelligence firm TRM Labs, said he “expected certain things and positive tone wasn’t necessarily one of them.”
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