Former acting White House chief of staff under President DonaldTrump’s administration and the U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney has joined Zurich-based blockchain legal assurance firm Astra Protocol as a strategic adviser.
Mulvaney will be responsible for the US strategy for the DeFi platform that is developing a decentralized compliance product including know-your-customer onboarding and anti-money-laundering products for the cryptocurrency industry.
Mulvaney’s years in the government and policy will also help the company to navigate the evolving global cryptocurrency policies and to develop in the Web3 industry.
Mulvaney has put the Astra team in touch with possible investors to help them raise money. He also intends to offer advice on appointing senior leadership positions.
Mulvaney said he’d like to be able to use crypto in the same way he does Apple Pay, but it would require it to be integrated into the mainstream financial system .“[Astra’s tooling] brings crypto and blockchain one step closer to being truly mainstream,” he said.
According to Mulvaney, former European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan, who chairs Astra’s advisory board, introduced him to Astra.
“Adding him as a strategic adviser will enable Astra Protocol to tap into his expertise across a variety of regulatory environments and help us deliver on our mission to provide the industry’s leading KYC/AML solution for DeFi protocols around the world,” Hogan said.
Mulvaney’s appointment comes as government officials try to regulate the financial technology and cryptocurrency industries through stringent compliance procedures.
The U.S. DOJ has been making efforts to root out scams on virtual currency exchanges. It appointed Eun Young Choi, a career prosecutor notorious for going after cybercriminals, to be the first director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET).
