Jim Messina, one of Barack Obama’s closest advisers during his reign as US president, has taken on an executive role at popular cryptocurrency platform BlockhainCom. The veteran politician is responsible for the company’s government relations and political strategy.
Another US official who made the transition into the crypto world is Brian Brooks. The former US Comptroller of the Currency is currently the CEO of bitcoin mining firm Bitfury Group.
Pivot to Crypto
In a recent interview with CNBC, BlockchainCom CEO Lane Kasselman revealed that Jim Messina will join the company in 2021. He serves as a key advisor on the company’s government relations as it plans to strengthen its presence in Europe and expand globally.
Kasselman described Messina as an important figure in the organization who often advises the team on lobbying strategy. The CEO noted that much of BlockchainCom’s success in Europe and the United States is due to his efforts:
“It’s safe to say that we’re probably one of the most prolific companies in terms of crypto-related public policy engagement globally, certainly in the US and Western Europe. This is a direct result of Jim and his guidance in this front”.
Kasselman further revealed that his company had some issues with members of the European Parliament as they were considering outlawing non-custodial wallets. After long negotiations, Messina managed to change his mind:
“It’s central to our business belief that we should give people control over their assets and protect them from any other potential interference. And Jim really made us think, ‘What is this argument, what will work in Brussels them?”
And as a result of his lawyer, having worked with heads of state in Europe for years, we developed, I don’t want to call it a campaign, but a kind of argument that we met with some of the ministers and we won .”
Dubbed by the media “The Obama White House Fixer,” Messina has advised numerous prominent politicians throughout his career. Some include former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and former Argentine President Mauricio Macri.
Brian Brooks’ entry into the world of cryptography
Last year, US attorney Brian Brooks, who served as US Comptroller of the Currency between May 2020 and January 2021, was appointed CEO of Binance US. However, his reign only lasted a few months and in November 2021 he moved to become the new top executive of Bitfury.
Not long ago, he praised bitcoin’s underlying network. He also predicted that the adoption of digital assets will increase in the coming years, which could positively affect the price of BTC.
Last month, he argued that the Fed’s focus on inflation is one of the reasons why the crypto market cannot recover its previous condition:
“We’ve talked about the idea that bitcoin is a hedge against inflation. The more the market expects hawkish Fed policy, the more people think the Fed will maintain an aggressive stance, and that would tend to hurt Bitcoin.”
Featured image courtesy of ABC News
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