Coinbase CEO to Meet US House Democrats on Crypto Legislation: Report

Brian Armstrong, the chief executive officer of America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, will privately meet with Democrats from the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning.

According to a Bloomberg report, Democratic aides disclosed that the meeting would focus on crypto legislation and related issues like taxes, privacy, and national security.

Coinbase CEO to Meet With House Democrats

The closed-door gathering will be with lawmakers from the New Democrat Coalition, one of the largest caucuses in the House that is made up of 100 members who are committed to pro-economic growth, pro-innovation, and fiscally responsible policies.

Armstrong’s meeting with the New Democratic Coalition comes as Coinbase faces a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over allegations of securities law violations. Recall that the SEC accused the crypto exchange of operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, clearing agency, and broker last month.

While Coinbase fights the SEC’s allegations, Armstrong launched a campaign seeking clearer crypto rules in the U.S. Before the lawsuit, Coinbase petitioned the agency in July 2022, asking for clarity on crypto regulation. After ignoring the exchange’s request, the agency finally asked for more time to file a concrete response.

Armstrong Seeks Clear Crypto Rules

The Coinbase chief has urged U.S. lawmakers to consider two crypto bills that have been circulating and promise to provide guidance on which regulators will oversee digital assets. Lawmakers from the House and Senate introduced the bills to provide clarity on crypto regulation.

The first one, proposed by Republican chairs of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Committee on Agriculture, would enable crypto exchanges to register with the SEC and trade digital securities, commodities, and stablecoins all in one place.

The second, introduced by crypto-friendly Senator Cynthia Lummis and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to oversee exchanges while regulated depository institutions handle stablecoin issuers. The bill was initially proposed in June 2022 but re-introduced last week.

Meanwhile, Coinbase’s COIN stock is up over 25% since a federal court ruled in favor of Ripple Labs in a lawsuit with the SEC concerning XRP’s recognition as a security or investment contract. The partial victory was considered a win for the crypto industry at large. The closed-door gathering will be with lawmakers from the New Democrat Coalition, one of the largest caucuses in the House.