A recent crackdown by the SEC may force crypto firms to leave the country.
Some industry experts say the SEC’s recent actions against U.S.-based Coinbase and Cayman Islands-based Binance could be a net positive for companies operating in the U.S, given the regulatory clarity they could help bring in the long run. In the short to medium term, however, these actions could force these firms to focus their efforts elsewhere.
It was recently stated by Coinbase that it has a license to operate in Bermuda, where it intends to establish a cryptocurrency trading platform outside of the United States. The exchange is also focusing more on its operations in Canada, a country that has tightened restrictions for cryptocurrency businesses but still allowed Coinbase to sign an improved Pre-Registration Undertaking, indicating its intention to abide by the upcoming new regulatory framework.
I suspect we will see more and more moves like this,” Andrew Lawrence, co-founder and CEO of Censo Inc., an on-chain custody solution said. “Yes, the U.S. is the biggest market, but people who are building in the crypto industry are doing so not because of the size of the market now, but because of the size of the market in the future and people are seeing that this future is not looking good in the United States.”
Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, hinted that he is not overly concerned about the possibility of crypto businesses leaving the United States. He stated on Bloomberg TV on Tuesday that “more digital currency is not necessary… The U.S. dollar is a type of digital currency that we already have.
The U.S. market was supposed to deliver the next major wave of crypto interest, so it will be hard to completely abandon it,” Edward Moya, senior analyst at foreign exchange Oanda, said.
The war might just be getting started, according to Mark Palmer of the trading company Berenberg Capital Markets.
