Crypto-friendly Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to temporarily lead CFPB

Recently confirmed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will be taking on a second role as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a statement released on Monday. President Donald Trump tapped Bessent to lead the CFPB temporarily, according to a statement from the agency. The CFPB is tasked with overseeing consumer financial markets and has proposed a few rules that touch on crypto over the years. “I look forward to working with the CFPB to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth,” Bessent said in the statement. Trump reportedly fired former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra over the weekend. The agency's future is a bit on edge since it reportedly caught the ire of the Trump Administration. For instance, Elon Musk, the billionaire co-lead of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (named in an apparent nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, DOGE), said he would "delete CFPB," in a post on X in November. The CFPB, originally proposed in 2007 by crypto critic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), has worked on rules to rein in crypto, including an "interpretive rule" last month to protect consumers against fraud in crypto transactions. It looks into how the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and other regulations would apply to incoming "digital payment mechanisms" like stablecoins. That Act, passed in 1978, is a federal law that aims to protect consumers engaging in electronic fund transfers, such as ATMs back in the day. Bessent was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the U.S. Treasury Department last month. A billionaire hedge fund manager, Bessent has taken a positive view of crypto and recently spoke against issuing a central bank digital currency — something some Republicans have long been opposed to. Bessent will also be a member of a new "President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets," as part of an executive order issued by Trump on Jan. 23. House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) criticized former Director Chopra’s leadership and accused him of “regulatory overreach,” in a statement on Monday. "I look forward to working with Acting Director and Treasury Secretary Bessent to finally rein in this unaccountable agency by putting the CFPB under the appropriations process, making it a bipartisan commission, and providing appropriate statutory guardrails," Hill said. Update: Feb. 3 . 5:00 p.m. UTC to include comment from Rep. Hill Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.