Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Set to Meet House Democrats for Discussion on Crypto Legislation

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is set to have a closed-door meeting with House Democrats to discuss crypto regulations.

The meeting, organized by the New Democrat Coalition, will focus on discussions surrounding crypto legislation, including topics like taxes, national security, privacy, and climate, Bloomberg reported, citing Democratic aides familiar with the plans.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. 

The New Democrat Coalition consists of 100 center-left members who seek to collaborate on various issues to promote innovative and inclusive policies.

Armstrong’s crypto platform Coinbase has been pushing for clearer regulations within the cryptocurrency industry.

In July last year, Coinbase filed a petition with the SEC to write regulations explaining how securities laws apply to cryptocurrency and to engage in a formal notice-and-comment process to allow the public to weigh in.

The largest US-based crypto exchange also submitted a comment to the agency back in March, asking for more clarity on the SEC’s views on staking services.

Coinbase even filed a lawsuit with a federal appellate court in Philadelphia in April, alleging that “the SEC refuses to address Coinbase’s rulemaking petition” as the agency aims to initiate enforcement actions against the firm for listing unregistered securities. 

SEC Accuses Coinbase of Violating Securities Laws

Coinbase currently faces a lawsuit filed by the US SEC, which accuses the platform of violating regulations that require it to register as a securities exchange. 

Coinbase has denied these allegations, seeking the dismissal of the SEC lawsuit. 

The exchange has consistently argued that the SEC has refused to offer it a clear way to register as a compliant trading platform.

However, just recently, the SEC claimed that Coinbase was aware of a potential securities breach when it listed some cryptocurrencies. 

In the filing, lawyers for the SEC slammed Coinbase’s argument that it was not aware of violating securities laws, noting that the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange had a sophisticated legal counsel. 

“Coinbase, a multi-billion-dollar entity advised by sophisticated legal counsel, argues it was unaware that its conduct risked violating the federal securities laws, and suggests that by approving Coinbase’s registration statement in 2021 the SEC confirmed the legality of Coinbase’s underlying business activities—at that time and for all time,” SEC lawyers wrote Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District Court of New York.

Nevertheless, Coinbase shares have been rallying over the past couple of days amid an inflow of some good news. 

For one, the exchange was listed as a surveillance-sharing partner for several spot Bitcoin ETF applicants in the United States, including giants BlackRock and Fidelity. 

Furthermore, the crypto industry scored a win against the SEC after a US court ruled in favor of Ripple in the XRP ongoing lawsuit, claiming that selling XRP on exchanges in itself does not constitute an investment contract.