Brian Armstrong to meet House Democrats about crypto legislation

Key takeaways

• Coinbase CEO will meet with House Democrats to discuss crypto regulation.

• Armstrong wants clearer rules on crypto from Washington.

Coinbase CEO wants clearer crypto regulation in the US

Coinbase Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong is set to meet with House Democrats behind closed doors Wednesday morning. This is according to a Bloomberg report on Monday, citing sources familiar with the plans. 

According to the report, Armstrong will speak privately with lawmakers from the New Democrat Coalition about cryptocurrency legislation and related issues, including tax, national security, privacy and climate. 

This latest cryptocurrency news comes as Coinbase faces a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Recently, lawmakers from the House and Senate have introduced bills that would bring clarity to the cryptocurrency industry in the United States. However, the divided nature of Congress makes it unclear whether the bills would be adopted soon. 

Coinbase continues to battle SEC in court

On June 6, the US SEC charged Coinbase with violating federal securities law, adding that the cryptocurrency exchange was operating as an unlicenced broker, national securities exchange and clearing agency.

The cryptocurrency exchange responded, saying that the SEC’s action violates due process and constitutes an abuse of discretion. 

On June 29th, Coinbase submitted a motion to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, asking that the SEC complaint charges be dismissed for lack of merit.

Coinbase’s stock price has grown by nearly 200% since the start of the year, thanks to Bitcoin’s price rallying by nearly 50% during that period. At the start of the year, COIN was trading at $40 per share but currently stands at $105.55.