Warning By Brian Armstrong To China About Anti-Crypto Climate

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, thinks that the way the US regulates cryptocurrencies will hurt the country’s “national security posture.”

In a new opinion piece for MarketWatch, Armstrong says that crypto innovation is moving overseas because officials aren’t making things clear and are threatening to take action if they don’t.

The CEO of Coinbase says that American innovations in the financial system during the 20th century helped the US economy and kept the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

Armstrong worries, though, that China is now putting the dollar’s financial dominance to the test.

“Two Chinese tech behemoths, Alipay and Tencent, offer integrated payment systems with direct, instant access to an array of services. The Chinese Communist Party is promoting these powerful, rapidly scaling platforms worldwide through its Belt and Road Initiatives, with its social credit system baked in.

And with the recent launch of its digital yuan, China aims to directly challenge the US dollar and its role in global commerce. Given these moves and China’s strategy to leverage financial technology to protect its own national interests, it should come as no surprise that Hong Kong is positioning itself as a global crypto hub.”

The CEO of Coinbase says that if the US doesn’t protect crypto technology now, it will put a financial burden on the country’s next generation.

“We’re spending billions today to repatriate technologies like semiconductors and 5G infrastructure. We should learn from that mistake. Bringing crypto and blockchain innovation back to the U.S. in a decade from now will require a colossal and sustained effort that may not succeed.”