Former crypto industry adviser Michael Barr has been selected as President Joe Biden’s newest nominee for a Federal Reserve role that is perhaps the most powerful financial regulator job in the United States.
Michael Barr, the current dean of the University of Michigan Law School’s public policy school, was a top official in former President Barack Obama’s Treasury Department and played a crucial role in the government’s rescue of the banking sector from the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis. But it’s possible that his time on the board of advisers at Ripple, which gave him deep knowledge of crypto, is the most essential component of his history in the digital-assets market.
On Friday, the White House announced Barr’s appointment as the Fed’s new vice chairman for supervision, describing him as someone who “spent his career safeguarding consumers.” But he’ll have to navigate a minefield in the Senate, which has already ruled out Biden’s prior pick, Sarah Bloom Raskin.
Barr’s expertise in the financial business, which included a spell at financial-technology company Lending Club, was not mentioned in the formal announcement. Barr was appointed to the Ripple Labs board of directors in 2015, stating that “innovation in payments can help make the financial system safer, lower costs, and increase access and efficiency for individuals and businesses alike.”
Barr, who was an early Biden administration pick to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, had been tarnished by progressive groups because of his industrial expertise. Opposition from the left thwarted that nomination, and the job remains unfilled after some Senators violently opposed another nominee.
Barr’s eventual confirmation is cast in doubt because Republicans have campaigned vehemently against some of Biden’s regulatory nominations in the Senate’s evenly divided chamber. Though he has previously received bipartisan backing in that chamber, he may face greater challenges this time. If confirmed, he’ll play a key role in the multi-agency initiatives already underway to oversee stablecoins and examine other safeguards for the crypto industry as a whole.
Barr is widely regarded as a consumer-friendly advocate for strict financial regulation, with extensive experience in financial inclusion initiatives. He wrote “No Slack: The Financial Lives of Low-Income Americans” and co-authored “Insufficient Funds,” a book about the finances of poor households in Detroit. The former Treasury official also assisted in the creation of the Dodd-Frank Act, which established the vice chairmanship that Barr is seeking.
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