Coinbase President Urges ‘Even Playing Field’ for Crypto Regulations

The President of Coinbase Global Inc., Emilie Choi, urged regulators for an “even playing field” in the financial regulatory world. 

At Messari’s Mainnet conference in New York, Choi asked for transparency, clarity, and fairness from regulators. The Coinbase President appeared remotely and urged for “common-sense” rules. 

“We just want to make sure that there is an even playing field” for crypto firms and other financial-services providers, Choi said. “We do want to get to this place where there’s just common-sense rules and regulations.”

The move comes after the company scrapped plans for their latest product. Coinbase planned for the release of a new product called Lend. This program allowed crypto holders the ability for additional gains on their holdings by lending out their crypto. 

However, the SEC came after Coinbase and their Lend product. The U.S. regulators probed the company, asked for employee records, names on the product waitlist, and threatened a lawsuit. Though Coinbase had a community of support in light of the SEC comments. Celebrity investor Mark Cuban said the company should take an “aggressive” rebuttal against regulators. 

Currently, Coinbase operates the largest American cryptocurrency exchange. Its valuation hovered around $89 billion after it went public on Nasdaq. Earlier this year U.S. Customs and Immigration even purchased forensic software from Coinbase. 

Crypto regulatory crackdown

Recently the crypto industry felt a tightened grip from U.S. regulators. Aside from the Coinbase probe and lawsuit threat, the SEC targeted another major crypto firm. Uniswap also faces a probe from the SEC, as announced earlier this month. 

As lawmakers mull over crypto tax provisions, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler detailed a roadmap for overarching crypto industry regulations. Regulators had a goal of the end of September for some type of crypto oversight. 

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency industry remains on edge. Some participants, such as Zumo CEO Nick Jones, say regulations are the industry’s greatest threat.