According to the Wall Street Journal, a former member of Ripple's board of advisors directors is likely to become the next Comptroller of the Currency.

The report cites insiders "familiar with the matter" who expect President Biden to nominate former Treasury Department official, Michael Barr, to the height post overseeing national banks.

The position equally Comptroller of the Currency serves as the administrator of the federal banking system, and is the chief officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The WSJ described it every bit i of the most powerful banking regulators:

"The comptroller oversees hundreds of bank supervisors stationed within large U.S. financial firms, making the person in the chore one of the most powerful bank regulators."

The official decision is yet to be finalized and the WSJ was unable to verify the story with comments from the White Firm, the Treasury Department, or Barr himself.

If canonical, Michael Barr would exist the second appointee with cryptocurrency experience in the position following former Coinbase executive Brian Brooks, who stepped down concluding calendar week subsequently eight months every bit the Trump administration'due south acting comptroller.

Barr was appointed equally a member of the Advisory Board of Ripple Labs in 2015. At the time he was peachy to foster innovation in the payments sector, stating;

"Our global payments system is badly outdated. I retrieve innovation in payments tin can help brand the fiscal organization safer, reduce cost, and improve access and efficiency for consumers and businesses alike."

President Biden'south team too considered law professor at the University of California, Mehrsa Baradaran, for the position.

The Biden administration has as well tapped crypto-knowledgable Gary Gensler as the well-nigh likely candidate to caput the Securities and Commutation Commission. The one-time Chairman of the Article Futures Trading Committee is known to be more positive towards decentralization and financial digitization than the previous inhabitant in the office.