Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong: “We Need to Make Our Voice Heard as an Industry” in Washington DC
Armstrong pledgees $1 million to help lobbying efforts and implores crypto users to vote and to call their Congressional representative
The crypto industry in the U.S. needs protection against rogue actors in government, according to Coinbase CEO and Co-Founder Brian Armstrong.
“52 million Americans have used crypto. That’s five times the number of people who have an electric vehicle,” he said yesterday at Messari’s Mainnet conference in New York City. “If we actually just came together and acted as one unit, this would probably be one of the most powerful constituencies in America.”
Armstrong announced he’s personally donating $1 million in an effort to align the industry with key policymakers in the lead-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
“If you look at the oil and gas lobby, they’re spending on the order of $100 million a year trying to help shape rules and regulations in D.C. For better or worse, that’s how our system works,” Armstrong said. “For the crypto industry to be taken seriously, we need to start to move larger amounts of money. That’s going to be a grassroots thing, but it’s also going to come from companies and individuals.”
He had a call to action for the crowd – many who were wearing Coinbase swag: Vote, share it on social media, show up at town halls, and call your local congressperson. “America is supposed to be a technology leader. We’re supposed to celebrate innovation. And yes, we have to admit that this industry has attracted some bad people that casts a shadow over it. But that doesn’t mean the industry should be banned or curtailed in some way” he added.
While Armstrong called out SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren as two bad actors, he said they don’t represent the point of view of the rest of the government. And what if the politicians and policymakers in Washington worsens come November 2024?
“The law is a function of geography. It’s latitude and longitude. So, we have a whole bunch of efforts we can make in terms of international expansion if we see crypto adoption happening in Nigeria, India or elsewhere. And in four years, we’ll come back and do it again,” he said.
Armstrong said the biggest action the industry can take outside of lobbying is to build products that more people will benefit from, because ultimately politicians care about technology that’s useful to people within their districts.
“We as an industry are going to outlast any administration, any SEC chair, even any member of Congress,” Armstrong said. “This industry is going to be around for centuries.”