'US has left a vacuum that other countries are eager to fill': Coinbase

cointelegraph.com:

With Coinbase seemingly on the verge of a court battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the firm has emphasized that the U.S. government’s hawkish approach to crypto regulation has “left a vacuum that other countries are eager to fill.’

The SEC issued Coinbase a wells notice on March 22 outlining that SEC staff had recommended the agency take enforcement action over “possible violations of securities laws” concerning some of the firm’s asset listings, staking services and Coinbase Wallet.

In a March 23 blog post titled Europe is winning. Will the US catch up? Daniel Seifert, Coinbase’s Vice President and Regional Managing Director in Europe, stressed that the U.S.’s “regulatory approach to crypto has been marked by regulation by enforcement,” despite industry-wide calls for “comprehensive crypto regulation.”

“This approach has created an environment of uncertainty and instability in the crypto industry,” he wrote.

Coinbase’s top lawyer @iampaulgrewal says the SEC wants court fights instead of conversation. In dozens of meetings with the SEC over the last 9 months, Grewal says the exchange was “given essentially no response” to key questions. Listen:https://t.co/027slXaMhb pic.twitter.com/L0ikJwleyA

As such, Seifert argued that the U.S. is losing its status as the leading hub of the crypto sector, while France, the U.K. and the European Union, are now building “vibrant” ecosystems due to their friendlier approach to crypto regulation.

“The US has left a vacuum that other countries are eager to fill,” he wrote, adding: “we are proudly an American company. It’s hard to sit by and watch the US squander the opportunity it has been given.”

The SEC misses one of the biggest frauds in history - FTX/AlamedaGary