Next week, President Biden is expected to issue his 81st executive order with this one regarding cryptocurrencies. It should include directing several agencies to study digital currencies, including a government-wide strategy to regulate them and the possibility of a central bank digital currency cryptocurrency and what we would need to maintain one.

The government agencies involved would include the State Department, the Office of the Attorney General and the Treasury Department. Also, the Office of Science and Technology Policy would also be involved if a U.S.-issued digital currency is rolled out. The new Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Alondra Nelson, will issue reports on infrastructure needed and distributed ledger technology. Protecting the market would fall to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the SEC. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will weigh in on privacy concerns.

The U.S. Justice Department just formed a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to be led by a former prosecutor for computer crimes. The FBI also recently formed a Virtual Asset Exploitation Team to assist the Justice Department in seizing digital assets associated with cyber crimes. They hope to recover some of the cryptocurrency that ransomware attackers demand.

Only three presidents have issued executive orders regarding cryptocurrencies. President Obama allowed the seizure of digital assets associated with cyber crimes under the National Emergencies Act, which Biden extended. President Trump's executive order forbade any U.S. citizen from engaging in any transactions involving the Petro token, Venezuela's state digital coin.

The U.S. government will look at what other countries have done to regulate cryptocurrencies and establishing their own digital coin. The international Financial Stability Board publishes papers and makes recommendations for interconnectedness and financial stability for backed and unbacked cryptocurrencies and exchanges worldwide. The U.S. government will most likely study the FSB's latest report, the Assessment of Risks to Financial Stability from Crypto-assets, issued this month, for guidance.