Michael Barr, Federal Reserve Board governor and vice chair for supervision, tendered his resignation in a letter to President Joe Biden yesterday, just days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a press release.
As vice chair for supervision, Barr was responsible for ensuring the integrity of the American banking system, but lately, he had become known by some as the “Debanker-in-Chief” because of his strong anti-crypto stance, despite being a former advisor to crypto payments firm Ripple.
In December, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published an opinion piece titled “A Federal Reserve Regulator Who Deserves the Boot,” with the subheading, “Trump would send a useful message by removing Michael Barr as Vice Chair for Supervision,” and now it appears Barr read the room and proactively resigned, but will keep his position as one of the Federal Reserve Board governors.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the Federal Reserve Board’s vice chair for supervision,” Barr said. “The risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction from our mission. In the current environment, I’ve determined that I would be more effective in serving the American people from my role as governor,” Barr added, implying that the rationale behind his resignation was avoiding a potential showdown with Trump.
According to Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long, Barr earned his reputation as one of Operation Choke Point’s key architects because of his role in shutting down crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank. Silvergate voluntarily liquidated in March 2023 after concerns were raised about its ability to remain solvent in the aftermath of the FTX debacle, but Long said the institution was never in danger of insolvency and was instead forced to shut down by the Fed at Barr’s behest.
(Key architects of Operation Choke Point 2.0 / Caitlin Long)
“We learned a few months ago that the Fed (read Michael Barr) pressured Silvergate to ‘voluntarily liquidate’ in March 2023,” Long posted on X. “The very next day, the systemic bank run began.”
Other notable anti-crypto regulators who have proactively resigned from their positions in the wake of Trump’s landslide victory in November include SEC Chair Gary Gensler and former SEC Director of Enforcement Gurbir Grewal.
On Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which provides deposit insurance and directly supervises more than 5,000 U.S. banks, released dozens of secret letters that exposed the government’s alleged anti-crypto policies.
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