brayan armstrongThe CEO of United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has renewed calls for cryptocurrency users to “elect pro-crypto candidates.”
In a March 23 Twitter Spaces discussion, Armstrong saying Coinbase would strive to organize the approximately 50 million US citizens who use cryptocurrency into a political force. His statement followed the US Securities and Exchange Commission. issue a wells notice to the crypto exchange, suggesting potential enforcement action.
“What we are going to do is start posting content where people can contact their congressman, donate to pro-crypto candidates, show up at town halls, make their voices heard,” the Coinbase CEO said. "We are going to elect pro-crypto candidates in this country to make sure our success is assured."
Today at 1 pm (Pacific Time)! Join @brian_armstrong, @iampaulgrewal, @faryarshirzad and @chrislehane for a conversation about the SEC's recent decision to enforce rules that don't exist. If the SEC wants to throw the rule book at crypto, it should have a rule book.https://t.co/7kgshcrmBy
—Coinbase (@coinbase) March 23, 2023
Armstrong's call to action was the latest move by the Coinbase CEO that represents a change in his stance on the mix of business and politics. In September 2020, he wrote a blog post stating that the exchange should not advocate "for particular causes or internal candidates that are unrelated to our mission because it is a distraction from our mission."
Related: Coinbase Plans To Set Up A Cryptocurrency Trading Platform Outside The US: Report
Since that 2020 post and following its April 2021 initial public offering, Coinbase executives have become openly involved in American politics. armstrong has met with US lawmakers and regulators, and policy director Faryar Shirzad announced the creation from a voter registration portal in August 2022. In February, Coinbase made a call to its users to “advance pro-crypto policy in all 435 US congressional districts.” with the launch of the Crypto435 campaign.
“When you think about the 20% of Americans who own crypto, [...] those are real voters who care about these races and who can really make a difference if they show up to vote,” said Kara Calvert, Coinbase's head of US policy.
It is unclear if the SEC intends to take enforcement action against Coinbase despite Wells' notice. Legal director Paul Grewal said that Coinbase had “simply not been told anything” regarding what assets or services the SEC might be targeting. On Twitter Spaces, Armstrong renewed calls for listeners to support a petition to the financial regulator arguing that the participation would not qualify as a security subject to its execution.
“A reprehensible amount of resources and brainpower have been spent in the US trying to engage with this SEC and trying to create substance and a path out of the spectral comments issued by the agency,” the CEO of the agency told Cointelegraph. Crypto Council for Innovation, Sheila Warren. “Are we really going to allow an agency in the US to set the entire trajectory of an innovation for the entire country, especially if that agency refuses to engage with the industry it is trying to regulate?”
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