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Former Obama Adviser Nominated to Run NYDFS
If confirmed by the New York State Senate, Adrienne Harris will take over for Linda Lacewell, who resigned earlier this month.
Updated May 11, 2023, 6:31 p.m. Published Aug 31, 2021, 6:08 p.m.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has nominated Adrienne Harris, a former economic adviser to then-President Barack Obama, to lead the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) as its next superintendent.
NYDFS regulates financial services and products as well as insurance companies. The state regulator has also played a significant role in shaping the crypto economy in New York, creating the BitLicense in 2015 and providing regulatory guidancehttps://www.dfs.ny.gov/apps_and_licensing/virtual_currency_businesses/gn/adoption_listing_vc for coin listings and other crypto-related business operations.
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Harris currently sits on the board of directors of the Digital Dollar Project, a group founded by former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Chris Giancarlo, former CFTC fintech lead Daniel Gorfine and Accenture director David Treat to advocate for a central bank digital currency.
Harris works as an adviser to financial institutions and fintech companies with Washington, D.C.-based PR firm Brunswick Group, and is a professor at the University of Michigan. She was previously a senior advisor in the Treasury Department and a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy until January 2017.
If Harris’ nomination is confirmed by the New York State Senate, she will take over the position as the state’s top financial regulator from Linda Lacewell.
Lacewell retired earlier this month after being accused of helping disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo cover up COVID-19 related nursing home deaths.
As the crypto economy continues to grow, the agency is seemingly trying to expand its digital asset expertise. According to a job posting, the NYDFS is looking for a Deputy Superintendent for Virtual Currency.
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The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
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WH advisor Patrick Witt: Davos 2026 was ‘turning point’ for global crypto normalization
White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt said stablecoins are the “gateway drug” for global finance and that Washington is racing to deliver regulatory clarity.
What to know:
The Context: The Executive Director of the President’s Council for Advisors for Digital Assets sat down for an interview with CoinDesk where he said the recent World Economic Forum in Davos served as a stage for the Trump administration to signal its commitment to normalizing digital assets as a permanent asset class. He said:
- The administration aims to strike a balance between traditional financial incumbents and new crypto entrants through a "symbiosis" where they can coexist and compete.
- Consumers benefit from this competition, positioning the current administration as firmly on the side of technological innovation.
- The President renewed a pledge at the event to establish the United States as the undisputed "crypto capital of the world".
Latest Developments: Regulatory movement is accelerating in Washington with key committee markups scheduled for major digital asset legislation.
- The Senate Agriculture Committee is set to mark up its portion of the market structure bill on Thursday, January 29th at 10:30 AM.
- The Senate Banking Committee has postponed its markup, requiring further mediation on issues like stablecoin rewards and ethics.
- Witt expressed confidence that despite these delays, the legislation will eventually be reconciled and brought to the Senate floor.
Reading Between the Lines: Stablecoins are acting as a "gateway drug" for global business leaders who are beginning to grasp the technology's potential—and its threat.
- Witt observed a cycle where traditional players move from a lack of understanding to fear, and finally to incorporating crypto into their own product offerings.
- While some Senate Republicans worry about stablecoins causing deposit flight from community banks, Witt believes a "smooth glide path" into these future technologies is possible with patience and cooperation.
- “Consumers win when there’s choice,” he said, while also acknowledging concerns from Senate Republicans about community banks and financial stability. The administration, he suggested, sees convergence between crypto and traditional finance as inevitable but wants the transition to be smooth rather than destabilizing to all parties.
- U.S. regulators intend to lead the global regulatory conversation, even if the domestic legislative process results in imperfect "directionally accurate" rules.
What Comes Next: Once the primary market structure bill passes, the administration plans to pivot toward a major crypto tax package.
- Witt suggested there is still a window of opportunity to pass additional digital asset legislation this year before midterms dominate the congressional calendar.
- The administration is also monitoring "developing situations" regarding digital assets potentially seized in national security actions abroad, such as in Venezuela.
- Finally, Witt declined to specifically comment on speculation that Venezuelan enforcement actions may have involved seized digital assets, citing national security sensitivities and an evolving situation, but did add, “There’s a number of folks in the national security apparatus engaged,” in regards to how the Maduro regime was financed.
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