US authorities holding crypto banned from working on industrial policy

The United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) outlined that cryptocurrencies and stack coins do not qualify as “publicly traded securities” under agency regulations. As such, it prohibits individuals who privately own digital assets from participating in federal policies that may affect the valuation of such tokens.

OGE’s recommendation

In its latest legal advice, OGE explained that government employees who own securities can apply for the “de minimis” exemption and resume their duties if they do not exceed a certain threshold. However, since the agency does not classify cryptocurrencies as “publicly traded securities”, workers will not be allowed to participate in federal regulations and guidelines if they are HODLers:

“As a result, an employee who has any amount of a cryptocurrency or stablecoin may not participate in a particular case if the employee knows that the particular case may have a direct and predictable effect on the value of their cryptocurrency or stablecoins.”

It is worth noting that the legislation applies to all government officials, including those working in the White House, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.

On the other hand, employees may participate in specific government affairs where they have a “disqualifying financial interest” from ownership interests in a mutual fund operating under necessary supervision. In addition, workers may be involved if they are the actual owners of the funds.

OGE explained that equity funds focused on cryptocurrencies and stack coins should fit the bill for “sector funds”.

“Mutual funds with a stated purpose of investing broadly in companies that want to benefit from or use blockchain technology, on the other hand, are considered diversified funds,” the agency said.

OGE said that it is sometimes not an easy task to identify the nature of specific mutual funds. In such cases, the agency promised to observe the units thoroughly and “look past the fund name of the prospectus” to analyze their functions.

Government officials who own crypto

The digital assets universe has emerged as an exciting niche for a number of American politicians and government officials. One such example is Senator Cynthia Lummis, who has long been a bitcoin holder. She entered the ecosystem in 2013 when the price of the asset was around 300 dollars, while last summer she topped the storage with the asset to a value of up to 100,000 dollars.

Other politicians who are part of that club are Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Congressman Mark Green and Congressman Michael McCaul.