Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong: The Next SEC Chairman Should Apologize to Americans

Coinbase’s co-founder and CEO, Brian Armstrong, calls for reforming how the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) exercises oversight on the crypto industry. In an October 29 tweet, he stated that the next SEC chairman “should withdraw all frivolous cases” and apologize to Americans for the conflicting stances on crypto regulation.

The next SEC chair should withdraw all frivolous cases, and issue an apology to the American people.

It would not undue the damage done to the country, but it would start the process of restoring trust in the SEC as an institution. pic.twitter.com/kWVx73vYMs

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 29, 2024

SEC vs. Crypto

Armstrong highlighted four crypto-focused questions to which the SEC has given conflicting responses since 2018. These varied statements span Jay Clayton’s administration as SEC chairman between May 2017 and December 2020 and current SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s administration, which began in April 2021.

One of the questions is, “Is a digital asset a security?” Under Jay Clayton’s administration, cryptocurrencies were not termed securities. In 2021, Gensler labeled crypto as securities. This year, the financial agency has dispensed conflicting responses to the question. The most recent response is that a digital asset in itself is not a security.

Another question the Coinbase co-founder raised is, “Can the SEC regulate digital asset exchanges?” In 2021, the financial watchdog revealed that there was no market regulator for crypto exchanges. A year later, the current chairman stated that the agency had received a broad framework from Congress to regulate crypto exchanges.

Amid the SEC’s varied replies to the question, the regulatory agency has cracked down on multiple crypto-focused platforms under the claim that they offered unregistered securities to users.

Coinbase is one of the crypto-based platforms the SEC has probed. In July 2022, word got out that the financial agency wanted to investigate the crypto exchange over unregistered securities offering claims. A year later, the SEC issued a Wells Notice to Coinbase. Since then, both entities have been involved in a continuous legal tussle.

A New SEC Chair In View?

Recognizing the unsavory relationship between the current SEC administration and the crypto industry, U.S. presidential aspirant Donald Trump promised to fire Gary Gensler if he wins the election.

With the election only a week away, the crypto community expects a leadership change for the SEC soon.