9 months ago
Sen. Elizabeth Warren's just scored a new victory in her battle with the cryptocurrency lobby.
Former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who once led House Democrats' campaign arm, has told Warren that he plans to give up work on crypto issues if confirmed as President Joe Biden's ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Maloney made the commitment after Warren raised concerns about his role advising Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange. She now plans to support his confirmation, which is awaiting consideration by the full Senate. The OECD is a Paris-based intergovernmental group of wealthy countries that focuses on research and developing global standards.
Maloney told Warren in a Feb. 9 letter obtained by POLITICO that if confirmed he will immediately resign from all private-sector advisory work and recuse himself from OECD decision-making processes on crypto and digital assets policy. He's also pledging to extend recusals under the Biden administration ethics pledge and committing to not accept employment, board service or compensation from any crypto company or organization for four years after his OECD tenure.
"[I]n response to your request, I am willing to voluntarily commit to stronger ethical standards," he said in the letter.
Maloney's pledge is the latest example of Warren getting results in her crusade against crypto and the broader revolving door between Washington and corporate America. In the Biden era, where she's had a major influence on administration personnel, she's also secured ethics commitments from nominees for agencies including the Federal Reserve, Defense Department and FDA.
Warren is pushing for a regulatory crackdown on crypto risks. Late last year, she called out Maloney as she criticized the crypto industry for recruiting former lawmakers and national security officials as it fights her efforts.
“This abuse of the revolving door is appalling, revealing that the crypto industry is spending millions to give itself a veneer of legitimacy while fighting tooth-and-nail to stonewall common sense rules designed to restrict the use of crypto for terror financing — rules that could cut into crypto company profits,” Warren said in December. “It also reveals significant gaps in the nation’s ethics laws.”
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