New U.S Bill Allows Crypto and Blockchain Advisor to White House

• Blockchain and cryptocurrency expert positions will be created in the OSTP.
• On Wednesday, the measure was approved by the Senate.

The Chips and Science Act was approved by the US House of Representatives on Thursday, by 243 to 187. Grants and incentives for the semiconductor sector are part of the legislation, which was brought into the Senate more than a year ago. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will now have a blockchain and cryptocurrency expert on staff.

On Wednesday, the measure was approved by the Senate. All in all, it will cost a whopping $280 billion, with grants and incentives totaling $52 billion going to U.S. semiconductor makers in the face of severe Chinese competition, and $170 billion going to research. It’s also anticipated to help with the industry’s supply chain woes.

Advise the President on Key Matters

Blockchain and cryptocurrency expert positions will be created in the OSTP to “advise the President on matters relating to blockchain and cryptocurrencies.” Democratic Florida Representative Darren Soto said in a statement that the phrasing of that clause was taken from a different measure he presented. 

In the statement, Soto said:

“As a co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus and a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I am proud to foster the policy needed to ensure innovation continues to take shape in our government and the CHIPS and Science Act will do just that.”

Throughout his career, Soto has been an outspoken proponent of the crypto world. On the 2020 measure to exclude minor crypto transactions from capital gains tax, he co-sponsored with Republican Tom Emmer. In April 2022, he and Emmer were co-sponsors of the Digital Commodity Exchange Act, which was reintroduced in the House of Representatives. 

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