- A hastily withdrawn statement from Janet Yellen appears to have been behind a crypto market jump
- Yellen praised the Biden administration’s “historic executive order” on crypto, which called for a report
- The market jumped by $80 billion, although the statement was removed hours later
The cryptocurrency market jumped by $80 billion overnight as a now deleted statement from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen praised the Biden administration on its new crypto policy. Yellen, who has admitted in the past that she is “not a fan” of Bitcoin, posted the statement praising Biden’s “historic executive order” for striking the right balance between supporting innovation and preventing illegal use. The post, which is still available through the wayback machine, was removed just hours later, but the positive language caused Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to jump in advance of the official announcement.
Executive Order to Support “Responsible Innovation”
Yellen’s statement revealed that the Biden administration’s executive order on the crypto markets, represented a “coordinated and comprehensive approach to digital asset policy” which supported “responsible innovation” while addressing the “threats to the financial system and broader economy”.
As we said yesterday when Bloomberg reported on the imminent publication of the executive order, the order itself was never going to be anything more than the confirmation of a study into the crypto world to see what needed to be done about it, and this is what we have; the Treasury will work with various other agencies to “produce a report on the future of money and payment systems.”
Yellen Statement Pulled Due to Timing
The statement, which was pulled because it arrived before the actual order did, is about as good as the crypto world could have hoped, with no clampdowns on the crypto space, despite continued suggestions that sanctioned Russians, and even the state itself, could be using crypto to funnel their wealth out of the country.
It is probable that the executive order will be presented later today, where Yellen’s piece will mysteriously reappear.
