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Home » Crypto Policy in 2023 – A Global “Race to the Top”  

Crypto Policy in 2023 – A Global “Race to the Top”  

byCCI
December 23, 2023
in News Analysis
As 2023 draws to a close, the CCI team takes a reflective look at the year, and the significant policy events that shaped the crypto space.

Summary

  • In 2023, major jurisdictions like the UK, EU, UAE, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore raced to establish themselves as crypto hubs by developing credible regulatory frameworks.
  • The Asia-Pacific region witnessed a significant shift in institutional adoption and regulatory development for digital assets this year, with notable projects and pilots, guidelines for centralized exchanges, and stablecoin licensing regimes in Japan and Singapore.
  • The EU this year passed the landmark MiCA legislation and the UK took its first proper step towards a regulatory regime. 
  • Meanwhile, the U.S. laid critical foundations for crypto legislation, and individual states pursued individual regulatory solutions.
  • Want more 2023 reviews? Check out the Stories You May Have Missed and Articles for Beginners, Policy Wonks, and Technologists.

As 2023 draws to a close, the Crypto Council for Innovation team takes a reflective look at the year, and the significant policy events that shaped the crypto space. Overall, we can safely say, this year has proved again that there is never a dull moment in crypto. Here’s what they had to say. 

The global “race to the top” heats up – Ji Kim

In 2023, we saw a race to the top among jurisdictions competing to become hubs for digital assets and the financial system of the future. In the UK, EU, UAE, Japan, Hong Kong, andSingapore, for example, there is ongoing progress and competition to have credible regulatory frameworks that attract commercial growth and innovation. 

For example, in the EU, we’re now waiting for the technical rules from the EU supervisory authorities to understand the full impact of implementing MiCA across the 27 member states. The UK is taking a modular but strategic approach to digital assets policy. And more broadly across Asia Pacific, we’re seeing the development and implementation of various licensing regimes. There is a clear recognition by governments across the world that crypto and its related infrastructure are here to stay. The question now becomes which countries can cement their status as the key hubs. This is a race to watch in the year ahead. 

We expect these international developments to influence U.S. crypto policy in a positive way. Progress is being made globally, and it is likely more a matter of when, not if, the U.S. will move forward with proactive crypto policy development. This necessity will become even more obvious over time given ongoing judicial losses for the SEC, which underscores the limitation of regulation by enforcement. While legislative progress in an election year is not guaranteed, it is possible, and at the least will create an anchor for the new Congress in 2025.

https://www.bankingriskandregulation.com/risk-round-up-crypto-looks-ahead-to-2024-after-turbulent-year/Ji Kim authors a risk roundup for the FT’s Banking Risk and Regulation Magazine.

Asia’s dramatic shift towards adoption and regulatory development – Sean Lee 

2023 marks a dramatic progressive shift in institutional adoption and regulatory development of digital assets in the Asia Pacific region.

On the institutional adoption front, there were several notable projects and pilots issuing digital asset products on public blockchains, including the issuance of tokenized debt securities on Ethereum and offered in both custodial and self-custody methods, a joint collaboration between UBS and Bank of China in Hong Kong.

In Singapore, UBS, SBI and DBS also launched the world’s first live repurchase transaction (repo) with a natively-issued digital bond on a public blockchain with the purchase and redemption using regulated digital payment tokens, across regulated entities located in three different jurisdictions (Japan, Singapore, Switzerland).

Regulatory development also accelerated across major jurisdictions in Asia. The primary focus has centered on providing guidelines on regulating centralized exchange operations, with the most clarity and details being provided by Japan’s Financial Services Agency, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. 

South Korea has also pushed forth specific reserve requirements for domestic crypto exchange operators, and Taiwan has established a new Financial Technology Bureau to provide oversight into crypto firms.  

On the Stablecoin front, Japan and Singapore became two of the first jurisdictions in the world to provide guidelines on their respective licensing regimes, along with announcements in Hong Kong that its own stablecoin and tokenized deposit licensing regime will be established in 2024. 

Policy Brief: Japan’s FSA Crypto Asset and Stablecoin Framework

MiCA, MiCA, MiCA – Mark Foster 

For the EU, June finally saw the publication of the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) – almost precisely a year after the political agreement was reached under the French presidency.  MiCA represents the most comprehensive crypto legislation anywhere in the world, providing clear rules of the road for operators of centralized asset services providers (CASPs) and issuers of stablecoins (Asset Reference Tokens or E-money Tokens). 

Much of the second half of this year has been dedicated to assessing the impact of MiCA ahead of application in 2024 and providing input to the EU institutions, including the European Supervisory Authorities who have embarked on a massive exercise in providing regulatory technical standards to further flesh out the primary legislation.

EU Policy Update: MiCA Endorsement to Have Global Impact

The UK’s “first proper step” towards a regulatory regime – Laura Navaratnam  

From a UK perspective, I am excited to see that policymakers have started down a path to regulation. 

The UK has been seriously considering crypto since the Cryptoassets Taskforce, a trilateral Board featuring HM Treasury, the Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), was formed in March 2018. In the successive five years, the cryptoasset market has changed considerably, as have the regulators. And while cryptoassets has remained high on the agenda, 2023 marks the first proper step towards a regulatory regime for crypto. The UK Government passed a landmark Bill in the summer, giving the regulators the powers to draft rules extending to cryptoasset firms and activities; the FCA has also, as of October, implemented rules applying to the financial promotion of cryptoassets. Finally, both the FCA and BoE currently have open discussion papers dealing with the issue of fiat-backed stablecoins.

While there is still a lot to do, the UK is now on the road to its policy goal of becoming a global crypto hub. Reaching that goal requires continued unwavering political commitment and regulatory rules that thread the needle between supporting innovation and competition, and protecting consumers and markets. 2024 is set to be a pivotal year.

The US put down “critical foundations” – Brett Quick

With so much work still to be done, it is easy to forget just how far regulation in the U.S. has come in the last 12 months. 

With some significant headwinds —  from the revelation that SBF was engaged in traditional financial fraud to some in the administration appearing openly hostile to the development of crypto in the U.S. — we saw the introduction and consideration by the committees of jurisdiction of both market structure and stablecoin legislation. While the bills have not yet made it to the President’s desk, reporting them from committee with bipartisan support was a tremendous step in the right direction. Legislating, by design, is a deliberative and often slow process. But critical foundations have now been laid for lawmakers to continue to build upon next year. 

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/06/14/brett-quick-explains-implications-sec-charges-against-crypto-exchanges.htmlHead of Government Affairs, Brett Quick, discusses SEC’s regulation by enforcement campaign with CNBC. 

States in the US are “developing regulatory solutions” – Peter Herzog 

The passage of California’s Digital Financial Assets Law (AB 39) was definitely one of the most impactful moments for digital asset policy at the US state-level this year. The bill provides a pathway for digital financial asset businesses to operate in California with a licensing structure and regular supervision. The process for implementing the bill through its regulator, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, is sure to dominate much of the industry’s attention next year, and there will also likely be new legislation to fix a lot of the bill’s outstanding issues. 

The bill is far from perfect; more work needs to be done. It has some serious issues with its scope and several ambiguous provisions, but it’s been promising to see states like California leading the way in working to develop regulatory solutions for businesses hoping to innovate responsibly, especially at a time when so many of our federal policymakers are pursuing regulation by enforcement. 

https://cryptoforinnovation.org/us-state-crypto-policy-in-2023-part-1/Read for US state crypto policy updates from Peter. 

“Fraud using crypto will not be tolerated” – Yaya J. Fanusie 

Coming from the anti-financial crime perspective, I wouldn’t say I have “favorite” events from 2023. But there were some huge things that occurred that will influence the illicit finance landscape moving forward. 

One would be the recent penalties levied against Binance for violating AML/CFT and sanctions rules. Not only were the fines massive, over $4 billion, they demonstrated the need for companies to be hyper diligent against illicit actors exploiting their platforms. 

The conviction of SBF for the FTX debacle was also a milestone moment. It demonstrates that fraud using crypto, or fraud of any kind, will not be tolerated, no matter how successful scams become. Fraudsters should be on notice. The bar for proper business practices and regulatory compliance is being raised. 

I expect that in 2024, we’ll see more countries implementing the FATF standards as they relate to the virtual asset sector. FATF’s guidance on virtual assets came out almost five years ago and regulators need to fully implement them in their jurisdictions in order to prevent criminal exploitation of crypto.

Digital infrastructure for the “public good” – Linda Jeng 

In the final months of 2023, the G20 and international standard setting bodies were hard at work, and in December, IOSCO finalized their DeFi recommendations. DeFi was a topic in 2023 and, I anticipate that it will be the next big policy agenda in 2024.

A real milestone this year was the release of the Crypto Council’s Key Elements of an Effective DeFi Framework. This white paper was the product of nine months of intense research, drafting, and collaborating with members and other industry stakeholders. It is the first paper by the industry to propose a viable way to regulate decentralized finance (DeFi). 

Our proposed regulatory approach would reduce financial stability risks while promoting consumer protection and innovation. We also introduce a new concept that blockchains and protocols should act as digital infrastructure for the public good like the Internet. Therefore, laws and regulations should be designed to encourage digital infrastructure to serve the common good. 

To be public, digital infrastructure should be public, decentralized and permissionless. Public, decentralized and non-discriminatory digital infrastructure means more resiliency and fewer single points of failure. However, policymakers around the world are skeptical. It is against this backdrop that I anticipate more work will be done around decentralization and DeFi. 

Introducing CCI’s latest DeFi regulatory policy white paper

Crypto can put “check and balances on AI” – Katherine Wu 

While not a specific policy development, we couldn’t let 2023 close without also jumping on the AI bandwagon. Our Research Fellow Katherine Wu outlines how crypto can put a check on AI: 

2023 year marked a new era of consumer-facing AI tools and apps. However, looking at the development landscape, the AI development field is currently dominated by tech giants like Microsoft and Google, largely due to the extensive computational and data resources needed to operate models such as ChatGPT. In light of this, it’s becoming increasingly important to question the validity of these models and whether their outputs are really generated from a particular model or training set. The crypto industry is looking to play a pivotal role in putting checks and balances on AI by leveraging novel cryptography such as  zero-knowledge proofs to  verify the legitimacy of machine learning algorithms.

In the context of AI safety and content generation, AI is not only transforming content creation across society, politics, and the economy but also leading to an influx of AI-generated materials, including sophisticated fabrications like deep fakes. Blockchain technology steps in to provide transparency and traceability for online content through digital signatures and public, verifiable timestamping of data. Regarding moderation, there’s a growing consensus on the need to decentralize generative AI, ensuring no single entity monopolizes control and fostering a more democratic approach to AI governance. While still early, the strides that will be made on that intersection of AI x Crypto will be massive in the year(s) to come.

Crypto in 2024 – Closing thoughts with Sheila Warren 

Reflecting on the dynamic and transformative journey of the crypto world in 2023, it’s clear that this year has been a defining moment in the evolution of digital currencies and blockchain technology. Amidst a backdrop of global economic shifts and technological advancements, the crypto industry demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability. 

On the regulatory front, 2023 was a year of cautious yet productive steps. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide grappled with the challenge of fostering innovation while ensuring user protection and financial stability. Notably, there was a concerted effort in most parts of the world to strike a balance between stringent oversight and nurturing the growth of the crypto ecosystem. This was evident in the collaborative dialogues between regulators and industry leaders, aiming to shape policies that support the responsible development of crypto technologies. Even in the United States, which I described colorfully at the Point Zero Forum as being “regulatory permafrost,” we observed green shoots pierce the surface, with several bills moving through committee despite an increasingly complicated legislative process. 

As we transition into the next year, the lessons and developments of 2023 lay the groundwork for a more mature, inclusive, and sustainable crypto landscape, promising exciting possibilities and opportunities for innovation and growth. It remains to be seen whether the US will land the regulatory plane, like so many other countries have, or whether it will move towards offshoring this technology, with consequences for national security, as happened with semiconductors. 

https://twitter.com/sheila_warren/status/1633161984282886144?s=20Sheila’s viral thread on the U.S.’s struggle to bring back semiconductor manufacturing foreshadowing our digital future if crypto is pushed offshore. 

I am particularly proud of the Crypto Council’s work this year, which included the following: 

  • Met with hundreds of critical regulators and policymakers in the United States at the federal and state level, UK, across the European Union, Singapore, Japan, and in Korea; Hosted dozens of invite-only events including Hill Briefings, State of Play Dinners, Bootcamps and Workshops for regulators, policymakers, business leadership, industry peers and digital asset champions.
  • Submitted 32 Comment letters and letters of support/opposition across the US (federal and state), UK, EU, and International Bodies on topics ranging from tax, AML, DeFi, market structure, and other rulemakings.  
  • Testified in the California and NY State Legislatures. 
  • Released groundbreaking reports on bitcoin mining’s role in the energy transition and our DeFi Framework that details a new regulatory approach and policies that balance financial safety and soundness, consumer protection, and innovation.
  • Completed over 400 media appearances or high-level public speaking engagements worldwide and published 60 explainers and stories of Crypto in Action to tell the compelling narrative of this foundational technology.

And that’s just my top 5. 

Whether at the state, federal, or global level, the Crypto Council staff worked tirelessly against tremendous headwinds to secure increased understanding and advances around this critical technology.

Signing off 

As the curtain closes on the crypto landscape in 2023, it is evident that the year has painted a vivid picture of an industry that is both dynamic and maturing. Whether in the form of landmark legislation in EU and Japan, innovative building projects, or the growing acceptance of digital assets, it is apparent that the crypto space is growing in significance on the global stage. 

Challenges have been instrumental in creating dialogue, driving improvements, and fortifying the industry against unforeseen hurdles. As the Crypto Council team reflects on the year and looks ahead, it is clear that the crypto community is not merely navigating the currents of change but actively steering the ship towards a future where blockchain technology and digital assets play an integral role in shaping the world’s financial landscape. 

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Saskia Seidel

Policy Fellow

Saskia Seidel is the Policy Fellow at CCI, conducting legal and policy analysis on crypto regulations and legislative developments across key jurisdictions. She examines bills and regulatory proposals as well as case decisions, providing insights into the evolving landscape of digital assets policy.

Saskia holds a Master of Laws in International Business and Economic Law from Georgetown University Law Center. Originally from Germany, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Law and Economics and passed the First German State Exam in Law to qualify in the legal system.

Before joining CCI, Saskia worked at various law firms specializing in corporate and international tax law, where she developed a strong understanding of how businesses navigate legal and regulatory challenges in a cross-border context and advising on complex legal matters.

Krisina Antonio

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Krisina Antonio is the Executive Assistant to the CEO and DC Office Manager at CCI. Prior to joining CCI, Krisina has led executive offices in education and finance. She also worked within the pro-sports sales and marketing space for teams within the NFL, MLS, and Minor League Baseball

Emily Ekshian

Communications Specialist

Emily Ekshian is the Communications Lead at CCI, working closely with the communications team on branding, marketing and publicity efforts. She holds a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, with concentrations in Finance, Technology, and Human Rights.

She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and Media Studies, with a Minor in Human Rights, from the University of California, Berkeley. Emily is passionate about the intersection of blockchain, digital assets, and global policy, focusing on how emerging technologies can support climate resilience, financial inclusion, and freedom of expression.

Through her work, she explores the transformative potential of Web3 in addressing global challenges and advancing positive social impact.

Renee Barton

Director, Impact Research

Renée leads Impact Research at CCI, documenting real world Web3 use cases to create shared understandings of how Web3 technologies are shaping the future for people and communities. She has ten years of experience examining the policy, economic, and community development implications of technology deployments.

She previously led primary ethnographic research at the Crypto Research and Design Lab (CRADL), where her research helped policymakers and business leaders understand why people are turning to crypto through evidenced-based insights.

Prior to her work at CRADL, Renée advised public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic clients at the intersection of technology, economic development and community-building.

Giles Swan

European Public Police Advisor

Giles has been a regulator, policymaker, the policy lead of a major digital asset service provider and the global policy director of a leading investment fund trade association. Giles advises trade associations, investment funds and asset managers, and web3 and crypto firms, on public policy, licensing, regulation and advocacy. During his time as a policymaker,

Giles was a national expert on the Investment Management Standing Committee of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA), a national representative on the Standing Committee on Investment Management of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and a member of the European Union’s Council of Ministers Financial Services Working Party.

Giles holds a BA in Banking and Finance, first class, from London Guildhall University, an MSc in Finance and Investment from CASS Business School and professional certificates in teaching and learning, and blockchain strategy.

Peter Herzog

Associate Director, State Government Affairs

Peter Herzog is a dedicated government affairs professional, specializing in issues impacting emerging financial technologies. As the Associate Director of State and Local Government Affairs at the Crypto Council for Innovation, Peter oversees initiatives to advance responsible regulation for the digital asset industry across state and local governments.

He has developed a pragmatic approach to building relationships with key decision makers and navigating nuanced policy issues. Before joining CCI, Peter served on the government relations team at the digital mortgage startup Better.com, where he led the organization’s state government relations strategy. He began his career at the Health and Medicine Counsel, a boutique healthcare lobbying firm on Capitol Hill,

where he was one of the youngest registered lobbyists in Washington, DC. His former clients include patient advocacy organizations, trade societies, and pharmaceutical companies. Peter holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and International Politics from George Mason University.

Ryan Eagan

Associate Director, Federal Affairs

With nearly 10 years of experience working for Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, Ryan advised the Leader on a wide array of banking policies and housing priorities. He worked with members in the House and Senate and the relevant Committees to advance legislative priorities.

This includes federal responses to COVID such as the American Rescue Plan,statutory changes to securities law, ESG rulemaking, cryptocurrency policy, and certain appropriations topics.

He graduated Williams College with a BA in both Political Science and History.

Rashan Colbert

Director, U.S. Policy

Rashan A. Colbert is the US Policy Director for the Crypto Council for Innovation. A seasoned policy leader with extensive experience in government, politics, and the crypto industry, he has served as a senior legislative advisor in the U.S. Senate, led policy efforts for a cutting-edge DeFi protocol, and has amassed a high-powered network across the public and private sectors. As Head of Policy at dYdX Trading, Rashan took the firm’s advocacy strategy and effort from zero to one.

His work involved educating policymakers, advising company leadership on policy risks, and ensuring DeFi’s importance to the future of the United States was well understood in Washington. Before transitioning to the private sector, he spent seven years in Senator Cory Booker’s office, where he led on technology, telecommunications, and commerce issues, with work focused on AI, big tech, social media regulation, and digital assets.

As Booker’s lead staffer on crypto policy for the Senate Agriculture Committee, he developed a deep understanding of fi nancial regulation and the legislative vehicles that will be used to shape it.

Patrick Kirby

Policy Counsel

Patrick is joining CCI as Policy Counsel, and brings considerable experience engaging with policymakers on emerging technology and financial services issues. Before joining CCI, he worked as an attorney in the US Policy & Government Relations group at the law firms Dentons and Squire Patton Boggs.

In those roles, he advised domestic and international clients on a variety of legal, policy, and regulatory issues related to technology, financial services, and digital assets. He assisted clients in developing and executing government relations strategies to further their legislative and regulatory interests before Congress and the Executive Branch.

In prior roles, he served as a legal intern at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Yele Bademosi

Africa Advisor

Yele Bademosi is the co-creator of Onboard, a community-first onchain neobank designed for creators and builders. Onboard's goal is to expand the onchain economy, making it accessible to anyone, anywhere, and empowering people to live radically better lives.

Throughout his career, Yele has invested in close to 100 startups globally, primarily in the financial services and onchain sectors. His purpose extends beyond geographical borders, aiming to leverage innovation, capital, and policy to create sustainable economic opportunities worldwide.

Sean Lee

Senior APAC Advisor

Sean is an advisor and entrepreneur in Web3 and FinTech, and has been frequently quoted in Reuters, Forbes, Bloomberg, CoinDesk, among others. Sean was previously the CEO of the Algorand Foundation, an MIT incubated Layer-1 blockchain protocol that reached top-10 by network valuation during his tenure.

He is currently leading the efforts at VSFG, a global financial services platform and the first licensed virtual asset manager in Hong Kong, to develop the regulated HKD stablecoin for programmable payment and cross border use cases across Asia and beyond. Before entering into crypto and blockchain, Sean spent 10 years and held global leadership positions in cloud computing and open source software development companies.

Sean also advises crypto startups and engages in mentorship and advocacy programs including the MIT Entrepreneurship & FinTech Innovation Node, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School, and the Hong Kong FinTech Association.

Matt Homer

Senior Advisor

Matthew Homer is the Founder & General Partner of The Venture Dept. Previously, he was an investor at Nyca Partners, a $1B+ AUM fintech VC firm, where he remains involved as an Operating Partner in an advisory capacity.

Before venture investing, he was Executive Deputy Superintendent at the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), where he oversaw the licensing and supervision of major digital asset firms, including some of the largest exchanges, custodians, and stablecoin issuers in the U.S.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a federal regulator at the FDIC, focusing on policy development and new technologies. Matt has also held operating roles in fintech startups, starting at Quovo and continuing at Plaid after its acquisition.

Laura Navaratnam

UK Policy Lead

Laura is a digital assets policy expert, and serves as the UK Policy Lead for CCI. Laura is a fintech policy expert, specializing in digital assets. Laura has worked in financial services policy for over 15 years. She worked at the UK Financial Conduct Authority for 7 years where she ultimately served as the Head of the FCA’s Innovate function,

which included all aspects of cryptoasset policy and fintech (sandbox, firm support, international engagement and strategy). She is also a Director at bespoke fintech consultancy Gattaca Horizons, supporting a broad range of US and UK based fintech clients and leveraging her experience to provide policy, regulatory and strategy advice.

She is also a Non-Executive Director for Zero Hash UK, a leading crypto-as-a-service provider.

Cameron Jones

Director, Strategic Initiatives

Cameron has over 30 years of experience in technology, philanthropy, and civil society sectors. She worked in the nonprofit and private sectors in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

She developed and scaled strategic social good programs for leading tech companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, Adobe, Intuit, and VMware, leading the development of program delivery and marketing strategies.

At CCI she leads strategic initiatives, manages new partnerships and current members.

Amanda Russo

Director, Communications

She led C-suite media relations and content for IHS Markit research divisions across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As a strategic communications advisor to CEOs, heads of state, and policymakers, Amanda worked on the World Economic Forum’s Public Engagement leadership team as Head of Media Content. Amanda started her career as a terrorism and intelligence analyst.

Yaya J. Fanusie

Director, Policy, AML & Cyber Risk

He spent seven years as an economic and counterterrorism analyst in the CIA, briefing federal law enforcement, military personnel, White House-level policy makers and the President. After government service, he joined the think tank world and as Director of Analysis at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance led research on sanctions evasion and terrorist financing threats.

In 2016 he began tracking the illicit use of crypto and wrote some of the first public analysis on a terrorist crypto crowdfunding campaign. He later published a major study on efforts by Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and China to build national blockchain infrastructure. Yaya is currently an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and Visiting Fellow at Georgetown's Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy.

He is a frequent media commentator and has testified before Congress multiple times on illicit financing issues. He is considered a leading expert on China’s CBDC.

Annie Dizon

Chief Operating Officer

With more than 20 years of tech, operations, and marketing experience, Annie has held several senior executive positions at the global social impact nonprofit TechSoup; most recently serving as Vice President of Customer Experience. Prior to TechSoup, she led marketing communications programs for leading Fortune 500 companies in the financial and professional services sectors.

Ji Kim

President and Acting Chief Executive Officer

Ji Kim is the President and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Crypto Council for Innovation - the premier global alliance for advancing the promise of this new technology through research, education and advocacy. Prior to this role, he served as the Chief Legal & Policy Officer for CCI. Before joining CCI, he was General Counsel and Head of Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Gemini, a global digital asset exchange and custodian.

In his role, Ji led the legal, policy, and regulatory affairs teams and also set and implemented Gemini’s global strategy for engaging with regulators, policymakers, and the government. Prior to that, he was a senior attorney at Kraken, another global digital asset exchange. In prior roles, he was an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and served as Federal Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert D. Drain of the Southern District of New York, U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

In prior roles, he was an attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and served as Federal Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert D. Drain of the Southern District of New York, U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Sheila Warren

Senior Global Policy Advisor

In 2023, Sheila was voted one of the most influential women in DC by the Washingtonian. Prior to the Crypto Council, she founded the World Economic Forum’s blockchain and digital assets team and was a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She oversaw tech policy strategy across 14 countries and regularly briefed ministers, CEOs of the Fortune 100 and Heads of State.

She spent significant time as a lawyer and executive in the nonprofit sector helping companies work with emerging technology to solve problems and increase efficiency. She was on the leadership team at TechSoup and built NGOsource, an online service that helps US foundations reduce costs on cross-border grants.

Sheila began her career as a Wall Street attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP after earning her J.D. at Harvard Law School. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in Economics. She is the co-host of Money Reimagined, a CoinDesk podcast.

Senator Cory Gardner

Senior Political Advisor

Senator Gardner honorably represented the state of Colorado from 2015 to 2021 after two terms in the United States House of Representatives. During his tenure, Cory was consistently recognized as one of the most bi-partisan members of the Senate, sponsoring and passing milestone legislation like the Great American Outdoors Act,

America COMPETES Act, the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act and the 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline. He served on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Mark Foster

EU Policy Lead

Mark has over 20 years of experience advising public and private sector entities on EU policy and politics. He started his career in Brussels as a European Parliamentary Assistant from 2003 to 2007. He later developed expertise in EU financial services as a Senior Official in the UK Permanent Representation.

In 2011, he moved to Kreab, a global public affairs and consultancy firm, where he became Partner in the financial services practice. He has held elected roles in trade associations including vice-chair at the financial services committee of AmCham EU and he retains a role as vice-chair for the EU/UK task force at the British Chamber of Commerce to the EU.

Mark was VP of Government Relations at Barclays from 2019-2021 before establishing his own business – Strategic Advisory Management - at the start of 2022.

Alison Mangiero

Senior Director, Staking Coalition & Industry Affairs

Alison Mangiero is the Executive Director of Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a CCI project that advocates for clear and forward-thinking public policies that foster innovation in the rapidly growing, sustainable, multi-billion dollar staking industry.

Alison began working in the industry in 2018, when she founded the Tocqueville Group (“TQ”), an entity that created open-source software and other public goods for Tezos, one of the first proof-of-stake blockchains to launch. Before founding TQ, she spent a decade in public policy and academia, and has broad experience fundraising and growing membership associations.

A passionate advocate of the liberal arts, Alison also teaches courses on leadership at the College of the Holy Cross and is on the Executive Board of Advisors for the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Leadership Studies.An alum of the University of Richmond and Boston College, Alison lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband and two young daughters.