Top crypto exchange Coinbase isn’t taking any options off the table when it comes to relocating outside the U.S. CEO of the exchange, Brian Armstrong said the exchange may be forced to take this step unless the U.S changes its approach to crypto regulation.
Armstrong said this when asked by former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at a fintech conference in London on Tuesday whether the exchange would consider moving to Britain.
“Anything is on the table. Including, you know, relocating or whatever is necessary,” Armstrong said.
His confession comes in the midst of a massive crackdown on scrypto companies in the country. The world’s largest cryptocurrency Coinbase has been under fire with a lawsuit by the commodities and futures trading commission (CFTC) for ” willful” violation of federal laws, but Coinbase itself isn’t left out.
Just last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission led b Gary Gensler approached Coinbase saying it was considering bring an enforcement action against the exchange. This is in spite of a lack of clear regulation for the industry in the country.
SEC Cracks Down on Crypto Industry
U.S regulators have gone all out in a crackdown that seems to be targetted at the crypto industry in the country. This is led mainly by the U.S SEC which claims that all cryptocurrencies are securitite except for Bitcoin. As a result, the SEC chair Gary Gensler is asking to go after all cryptocurrencies.
The latest is the statement by Gensler claiming that Bittrex is a securities exchange which has received a lot of backlash. Bittrex is an exchnage that atsrted in the U.S but recently announced it was leaving the country forthe same reason that Coinbase wants to leave. Shortly after announcing its plans to leave, the SEC has filed a lawsuit against the exchange for trading six tokens it claims are securities.
The same SEC has decided the go after decentralized exchanges which it claims fall under its jurisdiction. Not only Conbase but many other crypto startups are considering leaving ths U.tS as the regulatory environment seems unfriendly for the industry.
The Move to Regulate Crypto
Just yesterday Monday, the U.S governemtn released a draft of a bill that is potentially for regulating stablecoins and the whole crypto industry. This is the first time this year that such a move has been made, probably because of backlash from the crypto space.
The Biden administration last year came up with a plan to regulate the industry, but it has been shelved. Meanwhile, the U.K is back on track to make itself a crypto hub, following in the footsteps of Hong Kong and Australia. This makes it highly likely that Coinbase will rather relocate to the UK than deal with uncertainties in the U.S.