Senate confirms former blockchain executive Jonathan Gould to lead OCC

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm former blockchain executive Jonathan Gould to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, sending the nomination to President Donald Trump for final approval.

The Senate voted 50 to 45 on Thursday.

Gould was previously the chief legal officer at Bitfury and, before that, served as senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel at the OCC, which regulates and supervises national banks and federal savings associations. Trump tapped Gould to lead that agency in February.

Earlier in the day, during a procedural vote for Gould's nomination, Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a staunch crypto advocate, voted against his nomination, according to reporting from Punchbowl News' Brendan Pedersen. A Lummis spokesperson said that the senator needed to have further discussions with Gould regarding stablecoin legislation and the "federal preemption of state banking laws," Pedersen reported.

During the afternoon vote, Lummis ultimately voted yes to confirm.

Lawmakers are quickly moving ahead with stablecoin legislation, with next week designated as "Crypto Week" to consider the GENIUS Act in the House. The bill requires stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similarly liquid assets, mandates annual audits for issuers with a market capitalization exceeding $50 billion, and establishes guidelines for foreign issuance.

The OCC has already made a few more crypto-friendly moves this year, including clarifying that U.S banks can buy and sell crypto assets on their behalf. The agency also said it was removing references to reputation risk from its handbooks and guidance, though it noted that it would not change its expectation on how banks handle risks.