Media: Biden nominates crypto critic to head the OCC

President Joe Biden plans to nominate the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) within the Treasury Department, a critic of cryptocurrencies and the existing banking system, according to Bloomberg, citing its own sources.

Cornell University law professor Saule Omarova, a native of Kazakhstan and a graduate of Moscow State University, previously said she wanted to “put an end to banking as we know it.”

She also noted that the rapid growth of cryptocurrencies “primarily benefits an already dysfunctional system.” In her words, digital tokens threaten to destabilize the economy and are vulnerable to abuses by private firms to the detriment of government guarantees.

Omarova advocated moving consumer deposits to digital accounts at the ФРС, which she described as part of a plan for “radical change to the underlying architecture and dynamics of modern finance.”

According to The New York Times, the administration had been considering her candidacy since August.

“Saule Omarova’s scholarly works provide insight into how she might approach the new position. In her research she emphasizes that cryptocurrency transactions allow banks to conduct more trading operations outside the sight of the Fed and other regulators. As head of the OCC, Omarova may seek to strengthen oversight of such processes, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup,” the publication wrote at the time.

Bloomberg suggests Omarova’s nomination could face difficulties in gaining Senate confirmation, as large financial institutions that sponsor both parties are likely to lobby against her.

The publication recalled that, due to intra-party divisions, the administration had already rejected two candidates under consideration. One of them was former Ripple adviser Michael Barr.

Earlier, the former OCC head Brian Brooks stepped down in January 2021.