Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche that the U.S. government's enforcement action against Binance will permit the crypto industry to "move forward". Last week, the U.S. government levied a $4 billion settlement upon Binance, in which Changpeng Zhao, its founder and CEO, resigned and admitted guilt of money laundering violations. While Armstrong countered the notion that crypto is typically utilized for malicious activities such as fraud, money laundering and terror financing, he did not downplay the significance of the U.S. government's action against Binance.
The crypto industry can finally put to rest a myriad of scandals and concerns after Binance was handed a record-breaking settlement by the United States Department of Justice, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on Monday. Armstrong said in an interview with CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche, "The enforcement action against Binance is allowing us to bring this matter to a conclusion and put this chapter of history behind us." He noted that while there are companies out there that are working to aid in the development of the crypto economy, "many of them are still small startups." Armstrong added that "regulatory clarity is going to bring in more investment, especially from institutions."
The US Department of Justice hit Binance with a $4 billion settlement last week, which saw its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, step down and plead guilty to charges of money laundering violations. The government accused Binance of infringing the US Bank Secrecy Act and breaching sanctions on Iran.
Armstrong rejected the notion that crypto is mainly used for nefarious activities such as fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing, which has kept many financial entities from entering the arena due to compliance worries. He shared, "It's true that crypto has had some small amount of illicit activity, but it's been less than 1%. In contrast, cash has been used in far greater amounts of unlawful activities."
While Armstrong admitted that some players have acted badly (citing Binance as well as the closure of crypto exchange FTX and the conviction of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried on charges of fraud), he has been in the U.K. for the Global Investment Summit. According to Armstrong, Coinbase's presence has been an endorsement for the company, rather than the industry as a whole, and he has voiced his appreciation for U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's stance on digital currencies. Because of this, Coinbase has been increasing its investments in the nation.
The U.K. is looking to regulate digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and, at present, Coinbase is engaged in a contentious legal dispute with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. With regard to this, Armstrong expressed optimism about Coinbase's chances and denied that the SEC's actions had driven Coinbase to move overseas, as the company is still placing focus on its home market.
(Correction: Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on charges of fraud. An earlier version misstated his status.).
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