Crypto CEOs Like Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong Need to Accept That Existing Regulations Also Apply to Them

Based on the responses from Armstrong and other crypto executives and decision-makers regarding regulations, it is clear many of them do not seem to understand that they are providing regulated services in a non-compliant manner. In the specific case to which Armstrong reacted before the facts were in, the SEC charged Kraken because it was paying interest on deposit accounts. That is a regulated activity that the SEC provides certain exemptions for, e.g., banks don’t have to register with the commission to pay interest on a savings account; it is certainly not the case that crypto companies are exempted from registering for paying interest to depositors just because the deposits are in crypto, as Brian Armstrong seems to assume.