Coinbase CEO: US SEC is the only regulator unwilling to meet with Coinbase

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the only government department unwilling to meet with the company.

On Sept. 24, Armstrong said on Anthony Pompliano’s Best Business Show that the SEC was the “only regulator” that refused to meet with him during his visit to Washington after Coinbase went public in April:

"I contacted the SEC and tried to meet with them. They told me they don't meet with any crypto companies."

He added: "I'm a little bit surprised by that because there are so many different regulators out there. Every single one of them is willing to meet with us and every other part of government."

Earlier this month, Armstrong highlighted the problems Coinbase faced with the SEC’s practices when he revealed that the law enforcement agency threatened to sue the company if it launched a USDC lending program with a 4% annual yield. While other companies were already offering similar services, the SEC refused to give the green light because they believed the product was a security, he said, without explaining how it reached that conclusion.

In an interview with Pomp, the Coinbase CEO noted that the SEC has not changed its tune since then, not even calling the company. Armstrong asked:

“How do they protect consumers in this situation? I think a lot of consumers obviously want higher yields from their savings accounts. They don’t really get those products from the financial services they have. "

He added: "So that's a moot point. The second question is how do they create a level playing field?"

Armstrong said Coinbase considered taking the SEC to court, but didn’t think a lengthy legal battle was worth it, not least because “the court system has a lot of respect for regulators.”

The company has now abandoned plans to launch the project, opting to wait and see until the regulatory environment surrounding crypto lending services becomes more transparent:

"We'll wait and see what the SEC does with other products that already exist in a market that's not a level playing field."

He added: “I think we also want to focus on the bigger things that might be happening in crypto, like which of these tokens are securities and how will DeFi be used?”

Cryptocurrency Comes to Washington

When it came to how policymakers view cryptocurrencies, Armstrong said that Washington was split evenly between those who saw cryptocurrencies as a risk and those who saw the opportunity the industry offered:

“About 50 percent of the people I talk to in Washington still think cryptocurrencies are risky. They think it’s scary, it’s dangerous. They have mixed feelings about cryptocurrencies being used for illicit activities.” misunderstanding."

“Probably half the people I meet in Washington think so, and the other half realize that this is actually a huge opportunity,” he said.

Armstrong also attended the TechCrunch Disrupt conference on Sept. 22, and revealed that Coinbase is preparing a draft regulatory framework to be presented to U.S. lawmakers next month. The firm wants to be an advisor who can advocate for “sound regulation,” Armstrong noted, noting that regulators have asked the firm several times for cryptocurrency proposals.

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