The crypto industry has struggled to thrive in the U.S. The uncertain regulatory environment and the hostility of lawmakers towards the industry have curbed its growth. As this rocky relationship between the crypto market and the U.S. government persists, businesses may soon move out of the region. Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase seems to be stirred by the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S. This has further prompted him to highlight the possibility of the firm moving out of the U.S. Appearing at the Fintech Week in London, Armstrong stated while answering a question put forth by U.K.’s former Chancellor George Osbourne,
“Anything is on the table, including relocating or whatever is necessary.”
Coinbase has a strong hold on the U.S. market. Now that Binance is under the radar of the government, the Armstrong-led exchange could have had an upper hand. However, it seems like regulators were targeting the entire industry and not just one firm. He further added,
“I think the U.S. has the potential to be an important market for crypto, but right now we are not seeing that regulatory clarity that we need. I think in a number of years if we don’t see that regulatory clarity emerges in the U.S. we may have to consider investing more elsewhere in the world.”
Coinbase’s stock has also been faring immensely well. It was listed as one of the best-performing large-cap stocks of this year. This is despite the fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] sent a Wells Notice to the firm.
Is the U.K. on Coinbase’s list?
The U.K. could be on the cards for Coinbase. Armstrong stressed one prominent reason for Coinbase’s potential relocation to the country. The U.S. entails a lot of regulators trying to oversee the crypto industry. For instance, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] and the SEC have been monitoring commodities and securities separately. In the U.K., however, the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] is in charge of both. Highlighting the “turf battle” between the CFTC and the SEC, Armstrong added,
“We actually have contradictory statements from the heads of the CFTC and the SEC coming out almost every few weeks – how’s a business going to operate in that environment? We just want a clear rulebook.”
Additionally, Armstrong recently revealed that he would be giving propositions to the U.K. with regard to taxes and regulations among other things.