A group of five Democratic senators reportedly rejected President Joe Biden's candidate, Saule Omarova, to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Omarova's nomination as banking regulator was initially rejected by three members of the Senate Banking Committee - Senators Jon Tester, Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema - in a phone call with the chair of the panel, Senator Sherrod Brown, as reported by Axios. The opposition was also supported by Senators John Hickenlooper and Mark Kelly.
Omarova is known for her anti-crypto sentiments who has previously served as Special Regulatory Policy Advisor to the Undersecretary of Internal Finance. As a result of opposition from five Democrats and all Republicans, the White House candidate requires all other Democratic candidates to vote for her appointment.
Senators questioned Omarova regarding her nomination on November 18, including Senator John Ossoff of Georgia, who had specific questions for Omarova about cryptocurrency. His comments acknowledged some of the usefulness that cryptocurrency brings to financial markets, but focused on the cryptocurrency's potential to undermine the US dollar, aspects of which the Comptroller of the Currency is charged with regulating.
What happens next is one of two things. Either the Biden administration persuades Democratic senators who oppose Omarova's nomination to change their minds, or the administration chooses a new candidate for Senate confirmation.
In October, Senator Pat Toomey pressed Omarova for her missing Marxism thesis, and in early November, the Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael J. Hsu, pointed to Tether and Binance as risky players in the blockchain space.
Senator Hickenlooper's Denver office did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph's request for comment.
As regulatory pressure mounted, Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, issued notices requiring crypto firms to disclose information related to investor and consumer protection in stablecoins.
As Cointelegraph reported, Brown's notice was directed at Coinbase, Gemini, Paxos, TrustToken, Binance.US, Circle, Center, and Tether, who are now required to deliver the requested information by December 3. Crypto companies will need to share information in the purchase, exchange, and minting of stablecoins.
Furthermore, companies are also expected to share the number of tokens in circulation and the frequency with which users exchange them for US dollars. According to the senator, investors "may not appreciate the complexity and the different characteristics and terms of each stablecoin." According to the letter:
"I have significant concerns with the non-standard terms applicable to the exchange of particular stablecoins, how those terms differ from traditional assets, and how those terms may not be consistent across digital asset trading platforms."
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