Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong calls for leniency in regulating DeFi

The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, believes that decentralized finance (DeFi) should be protected from regulatory overreach. Armstrong has also expressed gratitude to some US lawmakers attempting to bring regulatory clarity in the crypto and DeFi space.

Coinbase CEO says DeFi should be protected from regulatory overreach

Armstrong has voiced his opinion on what he believes regulations should be like within the DeFi and crypto space in general. Armstrong has commended US legislators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman for their efforts in attempting to introduce crypto and DeFi regulations.

The two US Senators have been involved in developing the legislation needed to support the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in regulating the crypto spot markets by creating a new asset class known as “digital commodities.”

“Worth stating for the record, DeFi should be protected in any legislation that seeks to regulate centralized exchanges and custodians. Thanks to Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman for trying to get this right,” Armstrong said.

In September, Armstrong said that there was a high need to have cryptocurrency regulations in place. He said that regulating the crypto sector was a national security issue and even referred to the growing threat to the US caused by legal uncertainty in the crypto industry.

Armstrong said the US had a history of missing out on major innovations such as 5G and semiconductors. Therefore, the US, or any other country, could not risk the cryptocurrency industry going offshore.

He also called out the US regulators ruling by enforcement, saying that this led to many crypto talents, startups, and crypto issuers going offshore. He added that the Coinbase exchange was a global firm whose roots were in the US, adding that it was committed to ensuring that the crypto space succeeded because it was important to the US and the world.

FTX CEO calls for crypto regulations

Armstrong also mentioned the CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. He appreciated Bankman-Fried’s efforts in igniting discussions on the matter. He said the FTX CEO was also interested in protecting the DeFi space.

The FTX CEO recently posted a Twitter thread where he discussed the regulatory status of the cryptocurrency industry. He suggested that the crypto market needed to follow the action from regulatory entities while creating standards that would be followed until regulatory clarity is achieved.

The FTX CEO believes that regulatory clarity and customer protection mechanisms must be enforced. Moreover, the community needed to guarantee that the space was open and free and that it could support peer-to-peer transactions. A self-regulatory framework would ensure that the industry remained compliant until the right standards were met.

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