Coinbase CEO says SEC only wants crypto regulation by enforcement

Brian Armstrong shared new things about the relationship with the US Securities regulatory body in a new interview with Decrypt media.

Coinbase is a US-based Nasdaq listed crypto exchange. In March of this year, this exchange received a Wells notice from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its crypto services. In June of this year, the SEC body sued this exchange for offering unregistered securities offerings and running an unregistered national securities exchange. 

On 29 Nov 2023, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong appeared in an interview with the popular crypto news media Decrypt. In the interview, Armstrong said that the Coinbase team met with the SEC body 30 times in 18 months before March of this year, to get clarity on the nature of the crypto assets listed on the Coinbase platform. 

Armstrong confirmed that they got only Wells notice & lawsuit action, as a response to those meetings. All these things were already disclosed by the Coinbase CEO when the SEC body sent Wells notice.

According to Armstrong, the SEC body only wants crypto regulation via enforcement tactics which is not a good thing for the crypto companies.

Armstrong also pointed out that there is a turf war between the SEC & the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) body and this is creating very big regulatory challenges for all the crypto companies. 

The Coinbase CEO also compared the situation for this innovative sector in the US  with the UK. According to Armstrong, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is doing well in terms of crypto regulation over the SEC body because the FCA handles the regulation of securities & commodities crypto assets and this helps crypto companies to remain away from confusion, unlike SEC vs CFTC. 

Furthermore, Armstrong appreciated the role of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in this innovative sector because under his leadership everyone in the UK wants crypto & blockchain to evolve as a hub in the UK. 

Armstrong noted that currently there is only a single approach for the crypto companies to deal with the unclear crypto laws in the US which is a legal battle in the court to get clarity on specific conflicts.

Read also: Philippines regulator says Binance has no right to provide crypto services