Former White House Advisor to Lead MIT's Digital Currency Initiative

Former White House advisor Brian Forde has joined Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab as its director of digital currency.

Forde previously served as senior advisor to the Obama Administration on matters pertaining to mobile and data innovation.

His new position marks the kickoff of the Lab's Digital Currency Initiative, which aims to promote awareness of digital currency on campus and abroad and supply research towards policy and standards creation. The lab will also look into issues pertaining to Bitcoin 's security, Scalability and privacy.

Forde compared the current state of digital currency to that of the internet in its early days, when the groundwork was still being laid. He explained:

"For comparison, the Internet had more than 20 years to mature in academia and government before its tremendous impact on mainstream commercial and personal use."

Lab director Joi Ito said that Forde's previous work in diverse areas would be valuable for the initiative:

"Brian’s experience mainstreaming emerging technologies from the rural mountains of Nicaragua to the White House will be invaluable as he tackles the challenges of digital currency — one of the most promising emerging technologies for the next 10 years."

MIT has taken a leading role in the area of digital currency, playing home to the MIT Bitcoin Club, MIT Bitcoin Project and numerous events.