Ex-Bitfury Executive Receives Senate Nod to Head Banking Regulator

In brief

Jonathan Gould, a former chief legal officer at blockchain company Bitfury, has received the U.S. Senate’s approval to lead the OCC.
The Senate on Thursday voted 50 to 45 in favor of confirming Gould.
Under a regulatory framework outlined in the Genius Act, the OCC would supervise federally licensed stablecoin issuers.

A former cryptocurrency industry executive will head the Office of the Comptroller, becoming the latest crypto-friendly Trump Administration nominee to win confirmation to lead a key financial services agency.

Jonathan Gould will serve as Comptroller of the Currency after the Senate voted 50 to 45 largely along party lines for him to assume the position.

The legal professional and former executive’s confirmation comes as House lawmakers pore over the Genius Act, a bill that aims to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance in the U.S. Under that framework, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would supervise federally licensed stablecoin issuers directly, granting it immense oversight over a key aspect of the more than $250 billion stablecoin market.

Passed by the Senate on June 17, the Genius Act is expected to become law as soon as later this year.

The stablecoin market could grow to as much as $3.7 trillion by 2030, according to a report published in April by Citi.

The OCC is a federal agency that is responsible for the chartering, regulation, and supervision of national banks and federal savings associations.

Gould worked as the agency’s chief counsel from 2018 to 2021. He also previously served as chief legal officer at Bitfury, a firm offering a blockchain-as-a-service solution for governments and companies that want to integrate blockchain technology into their operations. More recently, Gould worked as a partner at the powerhouse law firm Jones Day.

U.S. President Donald Trump nominated Gould to lead the OCC in February.

Gould is the latest of several pro-crypto regulators to clinch approval to lead a federal agency that touches the cryptocurrency industry. In April, President Trump-endorsed regulator and digital assets investor Paul Atkins was confirmed as Chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission.

Brian Quintenz, who has deep ties to the cryptocurrency industry, is expected to assume the top role at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.