Biden To Nominate Crypto Critic As Banking Regulator Head

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to nominate a cryptocurrency critic as the next head of the banking regulator Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

See Also: IS BITCOIN A GOOD INVESTMENT? 

What Happened: According to a Wednesday Bloomberg report, Saule Omarova — who has shared some less-than-favorable views of the cryptocurrency industry — was nominated to run the OCC.

Omarova, now a professor at Cornell University Law School, said in 2019 that Bitcoin becoming an asset that is part of institutional investor's portfolio is a “vivid example of how fintech technology can be, and is used to synthesize tradable financial assets effectively out of thin air.”

Bloomberg also reports she said that cryptocurrencies are “benefiting mainly the dysfunctional financial system we already have."

In 2018 testimony to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Omarova said “money and power are two sides of the same coin. Finance is, and always will be, a matter of utmost and direct public policy significance.” According to her, rendering a transaction virtual does not change it, it "only obscures it from view."

The report follows Securities and Exchange Chairman Gary Gensler calling the cryptocurrency space a "wild west" asset class that is "rife with fraud" earlier this week.

See Also: WHAT IS BITCOIN, AND HOW DOES IT WORK?