Coinbase CEO on US crypto regulation, SEC lawsuit, international plans
The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase , Brian Armstrong, doubled down on his criticisms of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chief Gary Gensler Monday, but added the exchange would not leave the U.S. despite the regulatory uncertainty the company is facing in the country.
Coinbase has been under intense regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. lately following a grim year for the crypto industry which saw major companies like FTX and Terra fail, prices plunge, and investors lose billions of dollars in the process.
The SEC earlier this year served Coinbase with a Wells Notice, a letter that the regulator sends to a company or firm at the conclusion of an SEC investigation that states the SEC is planning to bring an enforcement action against them.
At the heart of the regulator's dispute with Coinbase, and a host of other crypto companies, is the allegation that it is selling unregistered securities to investors. Coinbase disputes this.
"The SEC is a bit of an outlier here," Armstrong told CNBC's Dan Murphy in an interview in Dubai Monday. "There's kind of a lone crusade, if you will, with Gary Gensler, the chair there, and he has taken a more anti-crypto view for some reason."
"I don't think he's necessarily trying to regulate the industry as much as maybe curtail it. But he's created some lawsuits, and I think it's quite unhelpful for the industry in the U.S. writ large, but it also is an opportunity for Coinbase to go get that clarity from the courts that we feel will really benefit the crypto industry and also the U.S. more broadly."
Source: CNBC
