The White House communications director and former technology and cryptocurrency firm partner, Ben LaBolt, will have to follow ethics rules followed by other senior White House staff and will be barred from handling matters related to any crypto or technology firms he has previously represented. This was according to an April 22 Bloomberg Law report, which stated that LaBolt will be restricted from “participating in legal matters, investigations, or contracts involving cryptocurrency or technology firms he previously represented.”

Pipler, Shopify, and West Street – further clients of LaBolt's former firm – paid fees exceeding $5,000 in a year, were stated as cooperating organizations in his public financial disclosure report. According to the same report, LaBold had also declared investments in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum 2 (ETH2) between USD 50,001 and 100,000 for BTC and USD15,001 to USD50,000 for ETH2.

Following the report, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order (EO) on March 9 which outlined an interagency process concerning digital assets and cryptocurrency. Republican “Crypto Senator” Cynthia Loomis of Wyoming commented saying “it’s great to see the Biden administration’s growing interest in digital assets.” The EO mentioned the production of reports at intervals ranging from 90 days to over a year from the publication of the EO, highlighting the need to focus on the regulation of cryptocurrency and social media companies.

TRM Labs' head of legal and government affairs, Ari Redborn, further commented on the executive order saying he was “expecting certain things and the positive tone was not necessarily one of them.” This order was the key indication that the Biden government will follow the same footsteps and enlist the help of skilled cryptoverse individuals in the process of coming up with applicable cryptocurrency regulations.

As the importance of cryptocurrency and its growing acceptance are topics of discussion in the White House, Ben LaBolt will presumably be an extraordinary help to the President as well as the rest of the US government. His understanding of the assets, their usage as an asset class, and the cryptographic technology from his past firm will be a great addition when it comes to deciding on regulations for the space. Despite the restrictions, LaBolt will still be able to offer his advice from a regulatory standpoint. This is a crucial move from the Biden administration, as cryptocurrency and its continuous innovative technologies create new opportunities and resolutions for the US economy.



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