Here’s what’s in Biden’s executive order on crypto

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday calling on the government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies.

It’s a long-awaited directive that has had the crypto industry on edge, not least due to growing regulatory concern around the world surrounding the nascent digital asset market.

There had been reports of a divide between White House officials and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen leading to delays in the policy rollout.

The crypto market got wind of the executive order overnight after the Treasury accidentally put out a since-deleted statement calling it “historic” and releasing some of the details ahead of time.

The order was finally signed Wednesday. It calls on federal agencies to take a unified approach to regulation and oversight of digital assets, according to a White House fact sheet.

Here are the key things to know.

The measures announced Wednesday will focus on six key areas:

• Consumer and investor protection
• Financial stability
• Illicit activity
• U.S. competitiveness on a global stage
• Financial inclusion
• Responsible innovation

Protecting consumers is an important part of the directive. There have been countless stories of investors falling for crypto scams, or losing huge sums of money through cyberattacks on exchanges or users themselves.

The Biden administration is calling on the Treasury to assess and develop policy recommendations on crypto. It also wants regulators to “ensure sufficient oversight and safeguard against any systemic financial risks posed by digital assets.”

While policymakers have been keen to downplay any systemic risks resulting from crypto, there have been increasing concerns over the role played by stablecoins. These are digital tokens that are meant to be pegged to the value of existing currencies like the U.S. dollar.

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin, has attracted the ire of regulators over claims that its token is not sufficiently backed by dollars held in reserve. Tether says its coin is fully-backed, however the make-up of its reserves includes short-term debt obligations like commercial paper, not just cash.

The topic of stablecoins was notably absent from the White House’s announcement Wednesday, though Yellen has made clear she wants to see Congress introducing regulation for the sector.

Another key area Biden’s executive order focuses on is rooting out illegal activity in the crypto space.

The president has called for an “unprecedented focus of coordinated action” from federal agencies in mitigating illicit finance and national security risks posed by cryptocurrencies. He is also urging international collaboration on the issue.

Last month, U.S. officials seized $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin — their biggest seizure of cryptocurrencies ever — related…