Coinbase CEO won’t rule out relocating company away from US

1 min read 18 Apr 2023, 07:25 PM IST Bloomberg

Crypto exchange Coinbase Global may consider moving its headquarters outside the US unless the country changes its approach to regulation, CEO Brian Armstrong said

Coinbase, which has around 100 million verified users, is in talks with market makers and investment firms on the possibility of establishing an alternative venue for global clients

Crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. may consider moving its headquarters outside the US unless the country changes its approach to regulation, Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said.

“Anything is on the table," Armstrong said when asked by former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at a fintech conference in London on Tuesday whether San Fransisco-based Coinbase would consider moving to Britain. “Including, you know, relocating or whatever is necessary."

While Armstrong has been vocal about his opposition to current US crypto regulation, raising the possibility of relocating marks an escalation of the rhetoric. In late March, Coinbase was notified by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the regulator plans to bring an enforcement action against the exchange.

Lawmakers in the US have yet to agree on a series of bills that could establish bespoke regulation for the crypto sector. At the same time, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are locked in a dispute over which regulator is best suited to overseeing the nascent sector, based on whether cryptoassets like Bitcoin and Ether should be considered securities or commodities.

“The US has the potential to be an important market in crypto, but right now, we are not seeing that regulatory clarity needed," Armstrong said, adding that the UK is Coinbase’s second largest market globally by revenue. “I think if a number of years go by where we don’t see regulatory clarity emerge in the US, we may have to consider investing more in other regions of the world."

Coinbase, which has around 100 million verified users, is in talks with market makers and investment firms on the possibility of establishing an alternative venue for global clients, Bloomberg News reported in March.

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