Regulation: Former Ripple Labs Adviser Michael Barr Now Fed’s Vice Chairman 

The United States Senate on July 13, 2022, confirmed the appointment of Michael Barr as the new vice chairman for supervision at the Federal Reserve. Barr, a former member of Ripple Labs’ advisory board is expected to play a key role in regulating stablecoins in the United States.

Barr Becomes Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair 

The United States Senate has voted 66-28 in approval of the appointment of Michael S. Barr, a 55-year-old Democratic party politician, as the new vice chairman for supervision at the Federal Reserve. The lawmaker previously served as the Comptroller of the Currency and got nominated as the Federal Reserve vice chair by President Joe Biden last April. 

“Barr has spent his career protecting consumers, and during his time at Treasury, played a critical role in creating both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the position for which I am nominating him. He was instrumental in the passage of Dodd-Frank, to ensure a future financial crisis would not create devastating economic hardship for families,” declared Biden in April 2022.

For the uninitiated, the U.S. The Federal Reserve is responsible for formulating and managing the nation’s monetary policy, regulating banking and non-bank financial institutions, monitoring and safeguarding the credit rights of consumers, ensuring the stability of the financial system, and rendering financial services to the government.

Tackling Inflation 

 At a time when the United States is battling its worst inflation since the 1980s,  Barr is expected to play a major role in the U.S. financial sector, and crypto space as part of his duty is to formulate regulatory policies for digital assets and stablecoins, while also crafting rules to govern both large and small financial institutions in the region. 

Commenting on Barr’s confirmation by the Senate, Biden stated:

“The Federal Reserve plays the preliminary role in fighting inflation and regulating financial institutions. Today’s confirmation of Michael Barr as Vice Chair for Supervision of the Federal Reserve is important progress for my plan to tackle inflation and for sound oversight as we transition to steady and stable growth.”

The office of the vice chair of supervision at the Federal Reserve has been vacant since last October when Randall Quarles stepped down from the position. Barr, who functioned as a member of Ripple Labs’ advisory board between 2015 to 2017, has a massive task ahead of him, as Fed Chair, Jerome Powell has since made it clear that he’ll defer to the vice chair on financial oversight matters and accept his authority. 

Despite Barr’s experience in the crypto industry, some observers have argued that the Frank Murphy Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, may not be interested in creating amenable regulatory policies for the blockchain ecosystem. 

As reported by crypto.news, earlier in July 2022, panelists at a recent Federal Reserve conference concluded that decentralized stablecoins pegged to the USD may play a key role in enabling the fiat dollar to maintain its status as the world’s reserve currency as compared to a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Barr will play a significant role in influencing the nation’s CBDC decision in the long run. 

In related news, on July 7, the U.S. Treasury, in collaboration with other federal agencies, submitted an international crypto regulatory framework to the government, in accordance with Biden’s executive order directive.