Coinbase CEO urges Americans to support crypto

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Coinbase CEO urges Americans to support crypto

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is urging crypto enthusiasts in the U.S. to make their political opinions heard.

Armstrong and three other Coinbase executives in a Twitter Space Friday encouraged Americans to urge their local Congressperson to adopt a pro-crypto stance, specifically through Crypto 435, an advocacy program coinbase launched in February.

The move was a day after the SEC sent Coinbase a letter indicating the agency planned to file an enforcement action against the company. The letter, wells notice, alleged that Coinbase violated securities laws. The SEC has been letting American companies out with enforcement action by allowing crypto to be a source of jobs and innovation.

Cryptobase's head of US policy, Kara Calvert, emphasised the advancement of digital asset innovation in the United States. The fact that there are 50 million Americans, about 15% of the population, suggest 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 unique, though, in that it is founded on volatile assets that trade in global, public markets without intermediaries. The SEC has determined that these assets have appealed to opportunists and scammers, which leaves individual investors at risk, and that's exactly what the SEC wants to prevent.

The SEC has been particularly aggressive with the crypto sector, effectively limiting its growth in the U.S. by not providing clear regulatory guidelines.

Collins Belton, a well-known lawyer in the digital asset industry, said the SEC Chairman Gary Gensler believed that most crypto assets are securities, that there's too much fraud in the space, and that there isn't enough disclosure to make crypto safe for retail.

Belton said there may be some political play influencing Gensler's actions, as enforcement activity may be seen favorably within the Biden administration.

''I think Congress will step up over the next few weeks,'' he said, adding: ''Now over the next few weeks is Congress is going to step up. He said bills will be introduced, hearings held, possibly movement on pieces of legislation.