President Joe Biden bans his new communications director from participating in legal matters, investigations or contracts involving cryptocurrency or technology companies he previously represented.
But Ben LaBolt, who joined the administration last month, will be allowed to advise on the president’s approach to regulating cryptocurrencies and social media companies, the White House said Friday.
LaBolt also counts crypto exchanges Uniswap and Andreessen Horowitz. Investor At industry giant Coinbase Global Inc., among former clients of his telecommunications company, according to Ethics Disclosure Released on Friday. He also served as spokesperson for Meta CEO’s family office, West Street.
LaBolt’s restrictions are in line with ethical rules followed by other senior White House officials. His appointment comes as the Biden administration is under pressure to step up its role in Washington’s approach to digital currency, with crypto executives saying the industry lacks clear rules and investors are likely to They complain that they are facing billions of dollars in huge losses.
White House spokeswoman Robin Patterson said in a statement to the Bloomberg government, “President Biden has repeatedly worked to ‘dominate the power of Big Tech,’ as Bloomberg has often described.” said. “The president will push our policies.”
The 2022 demise of FTX has reinvigorated the movement for new laws and regulations to oversee the industry. Biden has also been critical of social media companies for allowing misinformation about the coronavirus to spread, including in 2021 when he accused the industry of “killing people” with pandemic fiction.
LaBolt was a spokesman for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and a White House aide. 2016, digital marketing firm Bully Pulpit Interactive bought His telecommunications business, Insight Agency.
