By Coinbase CEO Last week, Binance, the world's largest crypto-exchange, received a massive $4 billion fine. Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao also had to resign.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase CEO, reacts to the incident and stresses the importance of following regulations in the crypto world.
Regulatory confirmation for crypto success
Binance recently faced fines and investigations in several jurisdictions. Binance allegedly sold unregistered securities and was guilty of fraud and market manipulation.
Armstrong sees these developments as confirmation that following rules was the right decision.
"We wanted to increase transparency and raise the bar for trust, so we went public in 2021. This meant we could not always trade as quickly as others. It is harder and more expensive to take a compliant approach.
You can't launch every product customers want if it's illegal. But it is the right approach because we believe in the rule of law," Armstrong said.
Armstrong stresses the importance of building a constructive relationship with regulators and taking proactive measures to comply with regulations.
Armstrong uses the incident to lash out at Binance. He believes its exchange grew less than its competitor because it was more serious about regulation.
Armstrong suddenly full of praise for crypto regulation
Armstrong is suddenly praising US regulation. For instance, he especially sees its long-term benefits:
"Americans should not have to go to unregulated foreign exchanges to take advantage of this technology. This industry should be built here in America, in a compliant manner, under US law."
This is rather surprising given that Armstrong has regularly lashed out at the unclear regulatory environment in the US and the strict oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the past year. Coinbase is expanding outside the US for this reason.
