Will Coinbase move? According to its CEO, Brian Armstrong, anything is possible.
The CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Amstrong, has warned that the company will consider moving its headquarters outside the United States if there is no greater regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency sector.
He expressed that “Right now we’re not seeing that regulatory clarity that we need.”
Remarkably, Brian Armstrong made the comment during his participation at the Fintech Week Conference in London. We applaud the swift action the UK is taking on crypto regulation. In the meantime, the U.S. is carrying out a strong crackdown on the crypto industry, with recent legal actions against Bittrex and Coinbase.
In late March, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified Coinbase that the regulator planned to take legal action against the exchange.
As a reminder, at the end of March, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified Coinbase that the regulator intends to take legal action against the exchange.
In an interesting note, former head of the SEC’s Office of Internet Oversight, John Reed Stark, shared that in light of the SEC’s recent charges against Bittrex, he believes that “Coinbase is next.”
Coinbase Considers Moving out of the U.S.
In fact, Armstrong gave his opinion when asked at the conference by former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Gideon Oliver Osborne whether San Francisco-based Coinbase would consider moving to Britain.
“Anything is on the table, including relocation to another country or whatever it takes.”
Actually, Brian Armstrong, expressed, “I think the U.S. has the potential to be a major market for cryptocurrencies. But, right now, we’re not seeing the regulatory clarity we need.”
Compare the U.K. to the U.S.
Now, Brian Armstrong, compared the regulatory situation in the US with that of the UK.
He indicated that “There is no such unfortunate situation in the UK where the CFTC and SEC are fighting turf. In fact, conflicting statements are made almost every few weeks by CFTC and SEC officials.”
What will be its new domicile?
As a result, Armstrong added that he is “looking for other markets to invest in beyond the United States. And that he was probably going to invest more in the UK, given its drive to position itself as a crypto hub.”
Indeed, he had confirmed as much on the blog. Where he indicated that he sees the UK and Europe as two potential markets to establish a presence, precisely because of progressive regulatory efforts in both jurisdictions.
“I never doubted the importance of the UK and Europe to Coinbase. We may be a U.S.-listed company. However, we know that to be successful in our mission to increase economic freedom, we need to be active globally.”
In his closing statement, Brian Armstrong emphasized: “I think in a couple of years, if we don’t see regulatory clarity emerging in the United States, we might have to look at investing more in other parts of the world.”
Brian Armstrong pointed out that “How is a company going to function in this environment? We simply want to have clear rules.
By Marina Meza
