Biden’s executive order on digital assets drops in four hours, but we have it early

Quick Take

• President Joseph Biden’s hotly-anticipated executive order on crypto is set to drop later this morning. 
• The Block has obtained a fact sheet outlining the key points of the order, which is described as the “first ever, whole-of-government” approach to overseeing the sector in the US. 

A much-anticipated executive order from President Joseph Biden is scheduled to drop at 6:00 AM EST, according to a fact sheet reviewed by The Block. 

The fact sheet describes the order as “outlining the first ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.”

The document, shown in full below, was leaked to The Block. It is labeled as under embargo for 6:00 AM EST, an agreement to which The Block was never a party. 

Per earlier reporting, the order is fairly benign, despite early fears of a pending crackdown. It does, however, emphasize an all-of-government approach, calling on new work from the Treasury, Financial Stability Oversight Council, Federal Reserve and national security agencies on relevant portions of the crypto ecosystem.

A statement from Treasury Secretary Janet Yelen on the new executive order seems to have gone up accidentally on the Treasury’s website before being taken down, but not before its webarchive was captured. Like the fact sheet, Yellen emphasized coordination, as well as the existing basis of agency interest in crypto, saying, “This work will complement ongoing efforts by Treasury.”

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