Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, discusses the regulatory hostility and lack of market structure clarity facing the crypto industry in Washington, D.C.
“And so it turns out in the past, this ambiguity about where crypto assets set, you know, sit between the two federal regulators, that lack of clarity was really weaponized and by Gary Gensler, the former SEC chair, and Elizabeth Warren and people like that who tried to, in my view, unlawfully kill the industry in the United States.”
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More from Brian Armstrong
Opinion
Armstrong: Elizabeth Warren is a socialist who wants government running financial services
“Well, ok, so Elizabeth Warren is you know, in my view, she's a socialist. She believes the government should be running all financial services.”
Brian ArmstrongMar 1, 2026▶ 2:47Brian Armstrong: When Washington Tried to Kill Coinbase
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Armstrong: Members of Congress told me Warren asked Gensler to curtail crypto
“My understanding, this is kind of what other people in the Congress told me, is that she asked Gary Gensler to go hard on crypto and like try to really curtail it in the United States.”
Brian ArmstrongMar 1, 2026▶ 4:37Brian Armstrong: When Washington Tried to Kill Coinbase
AssertionSupported
Armstrong: Around 300 Coinbase employees staged a walkout over BLM stance
“This erupted in Slack and basically 300 employees did a walkout. In protest.”
Brian ArmstrongMar 1, 2026▶ 17:05Brian Armstrong: When Washington Tried to Kill Coinbase
“Outside of work, people can do whatever they want. You can go protest. You can be left or right or whatever. But just inside the workplace, we're not going to be political. We're just going to focus, unless it has to do with our mission, crypto and economic fr…”
Brian ArmstrongMar 1, 2026▶ 19:38Brian Armstrong: When Washington Tried to Kill Coinbase
AssertionPartly supported
Armstrong voted against building USDC before it generated ~$800M in revenue
“There's actually been examples where I voted no on something and it turned out to be a massive success. And an example of that is like USDC, which is the stable coin. I actually, Embarrassed to admit, I voted no on that idea. Luckily, somebody else funded it o…”
Brian ArmstrongMar 1, 2026▶ 1:14:28Brian Armstrong: When Washington Tried to Kill Coinbase
AssertionSupported
Armstrong: Coinbase paid zero fines and won SEC lawsuit
“Oh, and I should mention we won that case. It was, so we didn't pay a single dollars, a single dollar in fines. We didn't have to change a single thing about the company. The judge Actually, the SEC withdrew it under this new administration, and several judges…”
Brian ArmstrongMar 1, 2026▶ 9:29Brian Armstrong: When Washington Tried to Kill Coinbase
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