U.S. Senate Confirms Former Blockchain Executive Jonathan Gould as OCC Comptroller

On July 11 (UTC+8), the U.S. Senate voted 50:45 to approve the nomination of former blockchain executive Jonathan Gould as Director of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which is now submitted to President Trump for approval. Gould previously served as Chief Legal Officer at Bitfury and also served as Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Legal Counsel at the OCC. In February of this year, Trump nominated him to lead the OCC. Earlier that day, crypto-supporting Senator Cynthia Lummis initially voted against it because she needed to further discuss stablecoin legislation and "federal preemption of state banking law" with Gould, but ultimately switched to support in the formal vote. The OCC has repeatedly released crypto-friendly signals this year, including allowing banks to self-custody crypto assets and removing the words reputational risk from its handbook. (Source: The Block) [MetaEra]