With the recent pivot of the crypto regulatory landscape in the United States, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has shared his view on economic freedoms that need protection.
The company’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, highlighted four points in a February 19 post on X.
Broad Coinbase Regulation Analysis
According to Shirzad, Armstrong recently pointed out that up to 10% of the world’s GDP will run on the rails of cryptocurrencies.
Based on this positive projection, there could be an increase in economic freedom globally. In Shirzad’s opinion, the technology that favors the actualization of this goal is currently available.
All that is required is the right policy environment, and Coinbase has defined this environment according to four factors.
First, the American cryptocurrency exchange says developers and entrepreneurs must be granted the freedom to build and try new things.
They should have access to this experience without experiencing friction or facing unnecessary regulatory hurdles.
Next, the Coinbase CEO opines that people should be free to choose, move, and manage their assets.
Also, everyone should be free to participate in the global financial system while enjoying access to world-class financial services.
The last on the list is the freedom of centralization, which will exempt people from institutional or governmental control.
President Trump and Ongoing Crypto Policy Shift
Achieving these four economic freedoms may not be an insurmountable feat, especially with the receptive crypto atmosphere in the US.
Since he became the President of the United States, Donald Trump has projected the growing digital asset industry in a better light.
The Coinbase executives consider the President Trump administration and proactive congress to be key to shifting the stance of the industry.
In the first month of his second tenure, he made intentional appointments and introduced favorable policies for the sector.
Mark Uyeda was appointed on January 20 as the interim Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Uyeda holds the forte until Paul Atkins, the nominated Chair, steps into the position.
The interim SEC Chair’s first move towards crypto regulation was forming a crypto task force.
Since the former SEC administration was recognized for its regulation-by-enforcement approach, the task force sought to “set the SEC on a sensible regulatory path.”
Also, a16z Head of Crypto Policy, Brian Quintenz, has been nominated by President Trump to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This move is also geared towards improving the crypto regulation in the US.
Impact on Pending Lawsuits, Securities Designations
With this new development, crypto-related firms involved in a lawsuit with regulators may see a favorable end.
However, this depends on the terms of the suit, as there are hints that non-fraud cases will be dropped. Blockchain payment company Ripple has been in a legal tussle with the commission over the securities status of XRP since December 2020
Per the changes in regulation, the new administration is likely to re-categorize the token and many others.
If this happens, Ripple could walk away from the costly suit now in its appeal stage. This could set a precedent for the broader crypto sector.
If most of the securities suit ends, pending filings for XRP, Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) might gain approval.
In addition, this will open up institutional investors to more crypto-based investments, increasing the GDP of the US.
