U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen issued the following statement regarding President Biden’s executive order on cryptoassets. President Biden’s historic executive order calls for a coordinated and comprehensive approach to digital asset policy. This approach will support responsible innovation with potentially huge benefits for countries, consumers and businesses. It will also address risks associated with illicit finance, protect consumers and investors, and prevent threats to the financial system and the wider economy.
Under the executive order, the Treasury Department will work with interagency colleagues to prepare a report on the future of money and payment systems. We will also convene the Financial Stability Oversight Committee to assess the potential financial stability risks of digital assets and assess whether appropriate safeguards are in place. And, as the issues raised by digital assets often have important cross-border dimensions, we will work with our international partners to promote robust standards and a level playing field.
This work will complement ongoing efforts by the Treasury Department. The ministry has partnered with the president’s Financial Markets Task Force, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the U.S. central bank to study and make recommendations for a particular digital asset, stablecoins.
According to the executive order, the Treasury Department and interagency partners will identify key illicit financing risks associated with digital assets based on a recently released national risk assessment.