Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of economics and cryptography.
Coinbase CEO Urges Congress to Pass Clear Crypto Legislation – Warns America Risks Losing Financial Hub Status – Regulation Bitcoin News
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has called on Congress to pass clear crypto legislation, warning that the US risks losing its status as a financial hub. “Crypto is open to everyone in the world and others are leading the way,” the executive emphasized.
Coinbase’s CEO of Cryptocurrency Regulation
CEO of Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN ), Brian Armstrong, has urged Congress to pass clear crypto legislation. He tweeted on Wednesday:
America risks losing its status as a financial hub in the long term, with no clear rules for crypto, and a hostile environment from regulators. Congress should act soon to pass clear legislation.
“Crypto is open to everyone in the world and others are leading the way,” he added, mentioning the EU, the UK and Hong Kong.
Besides Armstrong, many people have complained that crypto regulation in the US is not clear, making it difficult for companies to comply. However, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has insisted that the law is clear and that most crypto-tokens are securities.
Gensler has been criticized for taking an enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto industry. Recently, the securities watchdog took action against the crypto exchange Kraken because of its program. The commission also sent a Wells Notice to Paxos over stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD). On Thursday, it charged Terraform Labs and CEO Do Kwon with defrauding investors.
Coinbase has insisted that its staking services are not securities. Armstrong tweeted on February 12: “Coinbase’s betting services are not securities. We would be happy to defend this in court if necessary.” Also, Coinbase tweeted on February 14:
We do not know what aspects of BUSD may be of interest to the SEC. What we know: Stablecoins are not securities.
As the US tightens regulation on crypto, several other jurisdictions are striving to become a cryptocurrency hub, including Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea’s second largest city, Busan.
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell also called on Congress to pass cryptocurrency legislation after his exchange settled with the SEC and agreed to pay $30 million. “Congress must act to protect the domestic crypto industry and American consumers who are now going offshore to get services no longer available in the United States,” Powell wrote.
Do you agree with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that the US needs clear crypto regulation or does the country risk losing its status as a financial hub? Let us know in the comments section below.
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