It ‘would certainly help’ if Gary Gensler were no longer SEC chair: Coinbase CEO
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said one way his company’s dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission could get resolved is if someone else replaces Gary Gensler as chair of the agency.
“Maybe” that will happen in 2024, he said in an interview Thursday with Yahoo Finance. Someone else doesn’t need to be in that seat for Coinbase to thrive, he added, but “that would certainly help.”
Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
The SEC sued Coinbase (COIN) in June as part of a crackdown on the crypto world. It alleged the company had been operating an unregistered exchange because Coinbase allowed the sale of certain crypto tokens the agency considers to be securities — and therefore part of the SEC’s jurisdiction.
The question of what constitutes a security is key in this case as well the agency’s larger campaign to rein in a variety of players in the crypto world. The regulator has charged 20 different crypto actors with violating securities laws since the beginning of 2023.
Armstrong has been outspoken about his opposition to the lawsuit as well as the SEC’s approach and stuck to that stance Thursday.
“I do think the leadership there has taken a very hostile view towards crypto…regulation by enforcement posture instead of just engaging in rule making as they’re required to by law.”
He said he does expect there eventually to be clarity on how the crypto industry operates in the US, whether it is from the courts or from legislation written by Congress.
“Or maybe next year we’ll have a different SEC chair,” he said. “Somehow this is gonna get resolved in the US.”
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
In a blog post Thursday Coinbase said it was entering a new phase of international expansion, with a focus on acquiring licenses, registering and establishing operations in markets “that are enacting clear rules.” Some priority markets include Europe, Canada, Brazil and Australia. It officially launched in Canada in August.
Coinbase has made it clear it has no plans of leaving the US. Armstrong told Yahoo Finance Thursday that “Coinbase is gonna be a US company with a multinational reach.”
One GOP candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, made some forceful comments on social media after a key court decision went against the SEC. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington said last month that an asset manager to convert its bitcoin trust into a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
The shadow government in D.C. is out of control & the federal courts are our *only* remaining line of defense against the unlawful rogue behaviors of 3-letter government agencies. This decision is strong and clears a path to keep Bitcoin & blockchain innovation in the U.S.…
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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ September 8, 2023 11:19 am