President Joe Biden’s cryptocurrency executive order leaked a day early

A highly anticipated plan from the US President, which has massive implications for cryptocurrencies, has been revealed early by accident.

The US government has accidentally leaked its plans for cryptocurrency a day before it was set to make an official announcement, according to reports.

For the first time in US history, President Joe Biden was going to release an executive order on cryptocurrency and how it will be regulated in the US on March 9 local time (later tonight on Australian time).

Crypto enthusiasts have been waiting with bated breath, with rumours for months that regulations were headed for the industry which has a market capitalisation of US$1.76 trillion (A$2.42t) at time of writing.

However, just past 1pm AEDT, an official press release about the executive order from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appeared online before being quickly taken down, CoinDesk reported.

You can view an archived copy of the release here.

A screenshot of the release was also shared to Twitter by crypto commentator Jacob King, who has 23,000 followers.

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The U.S Treasury just accidentally leaked Sec. Janet Yellen's Press Release on Joe Biden's new #Cryptocurrency Executive Order. Oops! pic.twitter.com/OyR6j4V3zg

— Jacob King (@JacobOracle) March 9, 2022

The exec order aims to facilitate innovation within the cryptocurrency space while also ensuring protections for consumers and investors, according to the leaked release.

Ms Yellen said the department would “support responsible innovation” as well as making sure to “complement” existing plans for regulations in the industry.

“Under the executive order, Treasury will partner with interagency colleagues to produce a report on the future of money and payment systems,” Ms Yellen said.

“Because the questions raised by digital assets often have important cross-border dimensions, we’ll work with our international partners to promote robust standards and a level playing field.”

Later on, she added: “Treasury will work to promote a fairer, more inclusive, and more efficient financial system, while building on our ongoing work to counter illicit finance, and prevent risks to financial stability and national security.”

Ms Yellen also revealed the department would continue working with the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which published a report looking into stable coins and decentralised finance last year.

That report concluded that both were potential risks for the US economy if not regulated properly.

It’s expected President Biden will sign the executive order on Wednesday local time.

An archived copy of the leaked press release.

“Jesus Christ this is going to be really bad or really bad,” one person summed up minutes before the release was leaked.

There were concerns that the order was coming at the height of scrutiny for cryptocurrency, with concerns that Russia has been circumventing economic sanctions imposed by the West from its invasion of Ukraine by using cryptocurrency as a way to trade money anonymously.

However, so far, the overall sentiment online has been that this executive order is good news for crypto investors.

“We’re studying crypto”, one person said, indicating they thought the restrictions were minimal.

Crypto prices are beginning to move.

“Bullsh**” said another.

“Pump it,” commented a third.

A Twitter user added: “All those words and nothing was said” while another said enthusiastically: “Uhm. dope! Doesn’t sound bad by any means”.

At time of writing, cryptocurrency was on a slightly downward trend.

Only time will tell whether blockchain will rise or fall off the back of the executive order.

President Joe Biden’s cryptocurrency executive order has leaked.

Every time there is mention of greater regulations and restrictions for cryptocurrencies, the market responds, usually by dropping in price.

But Tommy Honan, head of corporate partnerships at Aussie crypto exchange platform Swyftx, previously told news.com.au that regulations are nothing to be afraid of.

“We know that there is a lot of money waiting in the sidelines for the correct regulations,” he said.

“The overall sentiment is that they’re positive. A lot of it comes from a consumer protection background, gives more people the confidence to get involved.”

Last year, Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he wanted to protect investors who traded cryptocurrency on exchanges, in case the exchanges collapsed, as has happened twice before.

Originally published as President Joe Biden’s cryptocurrency executive order leaked a day early