Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who has been involved in a consequential lawsuit with the US SEC, has once again emphasized the importance of sensible crypto regulations. In a recent tweet, Armstrong argued that the US is squandering its opportunity to take an early lead in the crypto industry, partially due to the FTX’s sudden collapse, which shook the crypto market last year.
As per Armstrong’s tweet, the reason for the falling US crypto space is that the US regulatory authorities are still assessing the crypto industry through the lens of FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and his large-scale mismanagement of customer funds.
Armstrong mentioned in his tweet that while other countries forge ahead with fresh strategies, the US appears entangled in the aftermath of the FTX collapse.
The U.S. is squandering an early lead, in part because SBF embarrassed some politicians and regulators who now want to look tough on crypto. Pretty much everyone else has moved on though, and FTX is not really discussed in UK, UAE, etc.
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) June 26, 2023
The way to solve it is just get sensible… https://t.co/8HAeWiB7Mi
Armstrong’s statement was prompted by a tweet from former CFTC chairman, Chris Giancarlo. Giancarlo shared a photo of the Japan Times newspaper with the headline “Crypto tumult in US may be boon for Japan.” He explained that the headline accurately reflects the discussions taking place in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region about stringent US crypto policy.
As per the article, the US SEC has become particularly active in taking enforcement actions against certain crypto projects and exchanges in the last few months. On the other hand, the move was not well received by the crypto community at large. Consequently, the US crypto regulations are often heavily slammed for their unclear and confusing framework that fails to give guidelines about which asset is a security or commodity.
The debate resurfaced when the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase this month, alleging violations of federal securities laws. This legal action closely followed the SEC’s similar lawsuit against Binance.
According to the SEC, Coinbase has operated as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency. In response to the lawsuit, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong criticized SEC Chair Gary Gensler, referring to him as an “outlier.” The Twitter community rallied behind Coinbase following the SEC’s lawsuit.
In the tweet, Armstrong mentioned that the FTX collapse incident is no longer a topic of discussion in the UK, UAE, and other regions, unlike the US. He emphasized that the only solution to prevent such issues from recurring is to implement sensible regulations rather than enforcing unclear laws.
Previously, at the Bloomberg conference, Armstrong revealed that Coinbase had sought registration with the regulator but received an “icy reception” from Chair Gary Gensler.
Despite the recent conflict with the SEC, last week, Armstrong shared a grand vision of Coinbase becoming a global “super app” and striving to offer a wide range of financial services in the future.
