Former White House Adviser: Biden's Executive Order on Crypto Is 'Balanced' but ‘Gaps’ Remain

Which federal agency should regulate crypto? That still needs to be worked out, said Carole House, a former director of cybersecurity and secure digital innovation for the White House who co-authored President Joe Biden’s executive order on crypto.

She told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” on Thursday the March executive order took what she called a “balanced” approach to overseeing the crypto industry, but there are still “gaps” that need to be filled.

“White House staff was looking at what every stakeholder was saying, including a lot of people that we disagreed with, or agreed with,” she said.

However, “I think the executive order really pointed to the fact that … there's not a clear picture of exactly all of the different things that need to be put in place to fill some of the existing gaps. But there's also an acknowledgement of the already long-existing framework that covers so much of the activity in this space, and the fact that absence of sufficient compliance with those long-existing obligations still has to be sufficiently prioritized and enforced,” she said.

Read more: Coordinating the Federal Government's Approach to Crypto

House acknowledged the ongoing discussions in Congress on how to regulate crypto. However, where those areas of enforcement should be “expanded, strengthened and clarified” and by which agency have yet to be defined.

President Biden issued his executive order to ask federal agencies to coordinate how they deal with the digital asset industry. The first-of-its-kind order is focused on consumer protection, including financial inclusion and stability risks, as well as crypto’s illicit use cases, responsible innovation and maintaining a position of leadership in the global economy.

House, now an executive-in-residence at venture capital firm Terranet Ventures, said the executive order “was properly balanced” and it focused on mitigating risks while still adhering to the potential innovation behind blockchain technology.

The administration “has an opportunity to take a position,” according to House, with the ultimate goal of helping to influence legislation on which agency should be responsible for regulating the crypto spot market.

The result could spread beyond U.S. borders by setting standards for crypto, which could in turn prompt other countries to follow suit, according to House. “The United States is really the key country that’s bringing enforcement actions,” she said.

Read more: Exploring Biden’s Executive Order on Crypto, 6 Months In/ Opinion