White House Rehires Pro-Crypto Advisor: A Policy Shift?

Biden Administration’s renewed engagement with crypto policy, the White House has rehired Carole House, a cybersecurity advisor who previously guided the president on his 2022 crypto-focused executive order.

House, who advised President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2022 as a director on the National Security Council with a focus on cybersecurity and digital innovation, is considered relatively pro-crypto—especially compared to other voices within the Biden camp.

Recently, House has been vocal about her frustrations with the administration’s sluggish progress on establishing a clear regulatory framework for American crypto companies. “One area that I do find extremely frustrating has been [the] lack of clarity on [a] pathway to registration or to successfully operate in this space,” House remarked during a recent Web3 Working Group podcast, specifically calling out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Since leaving the White House in 2022, House has advised several public and private organizations, including Terranet Ventures, a venture capital firm involved in crypto, and The Digital Dollar Project, a non-profit exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Today, House—co-author of the White House’s 2022 executive order on “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets”—announced her return to the National Security Council in a new role as Special Advisor for Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Policy. “[I am] honored to have been called to return to service of absolutely critical mission sets that are necessary to shape the future of secure and trustworthy digital economies,” House stated in a LinkedIn post.

This appointment comes amid increased scrutiny of Biden’s crypto policies as the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches. Several high-ranking Democratic senators recently broke with the White House to pass a rebuke of the SEC’s handling of crypto, a resolution that Biden vetoed, defending the SEC’s judgment.

Conversely, Republicans, including former president Donald Trump, Biden’s likely November opponent, have seized on crypto as a potential election-year wedge issue, making increasingly explicit statements in support of the industry.

Possibly in response to this pressure, the White House has shown signs of adopting a less hostile stance towards crypto in recent weeks. Last week, it was reported that Biden Administration officials plan to attend a Bitcoin-focused roundtable in Washington in July.