According to the Wall Street Journal, a former member of Ripple’s board of directors is likely to become the currency’s next auditor.
The report cites insiders “familiar with the matter” who expect President Biden to nominate former Treasury official Michael Barr for the top post of oversight of the national banks.
The position as Comptroller of the Currency serves as administrator of the Bundesbank system and is the Chief Officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The WSJ named it one of the most powerful banking regulators:
“The auditor oversees hundreds of bank supervisors stationed at major US financial firms, making the person in the job one of the most powerful banking regulators.”
The official decision is pending, and the WSJ has not been able to review the story with comments from the White House, the Treasury Department, or Barr himself.
If approved, Michael Barr would be the second officer with cryptocurrency experience in the position after former Coinbase manager Brian Brooks, who resigned as acting auditor for the Trump administration last week after eight months.
Barr was appointed to the advisory board of Ripple Labs in 2015. At the time, he was interested in driving innovations in the payments sector.
“Our global payment system is very out of date. I think innovations in payments can help make the financial system more secure, reduce costs, and improve access and efficiency for consumers and businesses alike. “
President Biden’s team also retained a University of California law professor, Mehrsa Baradaran, for the position.
The Biden administration has also selected crypto connoisseur Gary Gensler as the most likely candidate for chairmanship of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is more positive about decentralization and financial digitization than the previous resident in this role.
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