Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, is encouraging crypto enthusiasts in the U.S. to make their political views heard.
Armstrong and three other Coinbase executives in a Twitter Space Thursday encouraged Americans to urge their local Congressperson to adopt a pro-crypto stance, particularly through Crypto 435, an advocacy program coinbase launched in February.
The move came a day after the SEC issued a letter indicating the agency intended to file an enforcement action against the company. The letter, a Wells Notice, asserted that Coinbase violated securities laws. Crypto is a source of jobs and innovation, which America risks by letting the SEC run wild with enforcement action.
Kara Calvert, the head of coinbase in the US, emphasised the advancement of digital asset innovation in the United States. The fact that there are 50 million Americans, roughly 15% of the population, suggests that crypto holders have power as a voting bloc.
Cryptocurrency official Faryar Shirzad, coinbase's chief policy officer, said the U.S. should work to stay on the cutting edge of tech, whether it's biotech, semiconductors, AI, machine learning, or crypto.
Crypto is distinctive, though, in that it is founded on volatile assets that trade globally, public markets without intermediaries. These assets have been attractive to opportunists and scammers, leaving individual investors at risk, which is exactly what the SEC wants to prevent.
Crypto enthusiasts will say that the SEC has been particularly aggressive in the industry, effectively limiting its growth in the U.S. by not providing clear regulatory guidelines.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that most crypto assets are securities, that there's too much fraud and that there's not enough disclosure to make crypto safe for retail.
Belton said there may be some political play influencing Gensler's actions too, as enforcement activity may be seen favorably within the Biden administration.
''I ll see now over the next few weeks is Congress is going to step up,'' he said. ll see bills introduced, hearings held, potentially actually movement on pieces of legislation.