How to get regulatory clarity for crypto

Coinbase is an apolitical company on issues unrelated to our mission. But when it comes to our mission of increasing economic freedom by growing the adoption of cryptocurrencies, we are deeply engaged in policy efforts. We’ve invested substantially in our policy efforts to-date and plan to continue investing over the coming decade as crypto rules take shape around the world. This is a key part of how we defend our customers’ rights and advance economic freedom.

There are 52m Americans who have owned crypto¹, and many pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle. For too long, some congressional leaders who are out of touch with their constituents have attempted to eliminate the crypto industry from the U.S. They don’t believe in economic freedom and wish crypto didn’t exist, yet the American people continue to see the benefits of crypto and that’s why the industry and the technology continue to flourish.

The 20 percent of the U.S. adult population who have owned crypto are younger, more racially diverse and cut across political ideological lines. They’re demanding alternatives to a broken, bureaucratic system with gatekeepers, delays and fees. And they’re demanding to be heard in this next election. 

At the time of this writing, StandWithCrypto.org has amassed over 900,000 advocates nationwide – including in battleground states like Georgia and Arizona where Stand with Crypto advocates far surpass the 2020 voting margin between Presidents Biden and Trump. Over 200,000 Stand with Crypto advocates have already contacted their members of Congress, which recently helped with key votes in the U.S. House and Senate on SAB121 and FIT21.

Getting regulatory clarity will be a major determinant of how crypto is adopted around the world over the coming decades, and we’ve seen recent progress, such as the FIT21 bill passing with strong bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives. I thought it would be a good time to share our strategy at Coinbase for helping ensure we get regulatory clarity that protects consumers from harm, while preserving the innovation potential of this technology.

How do we get regulatory clarity?

We can get regulatory clarity from the courts by creating new case law and we can get it from Congress if they choose to pass new legislation, as they already have in many countries. But we’ve seen that this can take a long time, and a few holdouts can create big issues. For a bill to become law in the U.S., it must pass the House, Senate, and be signed into law by the President. And in our divided government, the default is that nothing will happen, unless the cost of inaction is greater than doing the right thing.

This leads us to an important conclusion: The best way to get regulatory clarity in democratic countries is to elect pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle, and to vote anti-crypto candidates out of office. This must be a bipartisan effort, because getting legislation passed will require support from both parties, and because an equal percentage of Democrats (22%), Republicans (18%), and Independents (22%) own crypto.²

This may seem like an obvious point, but it leads to some non-obvious conclusions. First, we as a company have spent countless hours meeting with anti-crypto politicians and candidates, trying to convince them of our position. While we are willing to talk to everyone, even our harshest critics, we no longer need to support them. In fact, we need to work to get anti-crypto candidates out of office, and focus on supporting pro-crypto candidates.

Secondly, because the effort must be bipartisan to get legislation passed, we will not give special treatment to one particular party. Crypto is a truly bipartisan issue, and there are important supporters on both sides. This means we will hold both sides to the same standard, and not change our actions based on party affiliation. Crypto advances issues such as economic freedom, democratization of the financial system, and the needs of the unbanked and underbanked. These are important priorities for the left and the right, and that’s why crypto is not and should not be seen through a partisan lens.

Crypto voters won’t be taken seriously until we send a clear message to political candidates that it is bad politics to be anti-crypto. Therefore, the simple conclusion is that we need to support pro-crypto candidates on both sides of the aisle, and unceremoniously vote anti-crypto candidates out of office.

What resources do we have at our disposal?

First, StandWithCrypto.org is a grassroots movement which will be in excess of 1m advocates by Labor Day, who want to elect pro-crypto candidates. We will support StandWithCrypto.org as best we can to help it grow. The more this grows, the more crypto voters will be a force to be reckoned with. There are candidate scorecards, tools to contact your representatives, options to donate, and tools to help register to vote.

Second, we, along with others in the industry, have helped fund Fairshake SuperPAC to help elect pro-crypto candidates, and defend the rights of our customers. At the time of this writing, Coinbase has donated an additional $25m in USDC, bringing the total Fairshake and its affiliates have raised to $160m in this election cycle, making it one of the largest SuperPACs.

Which political races matter?

From a U.S. perspective, there are now dozens of races in the House and the Senate that matter in this upcoming election in November, where a pro-crypto candidate is running, and many of these pro-crypto candidates are in a strong position to win. The House and Senate help determine what crypto legislation gets passed, amongst other things, so growing the number of pro-crypto members is critical.

The presidential race matters as well, because the President makes key appointments in his Administration (such as the SEC Chair, Treasury Secretary, etc) and can veto legislation.

You can see a list of key races this November, powered by StandWithCrypto.org.

How can you help?

If you believe that electing pro-crypto candidates is important, you can help with this effort.

If you're a crypto holder, and want to send a clear message to your elected officials in November that you want to stop the unwarranted attacks on crypto, and create clear rules, sign up at StandWithCrypto.org. Call or email your representatives, donate to pro-crypto candidates, share your experience on social media, view your candidate scorecards, and make sure you’re registered to vote in November.

If you’re a crypto company, I’d suggest donating to Fairshake and becoming a StandWithCrypto partner to help protect your customers’ rights.

52m Americans have owned crypto. They want clear rules that protect consumers, and allow innovation to happen here in America. The time has come for this change to happen. We want an update to our financial system, that is antiquated in so many ways, and better financial infrastructure for the world which fosters economic freedom. We now need to send a strong message in November by electing candidates who represent our values.

¹Source: Morning Consult’s Quarterly Cryptocurrency Adoption and Perspectives

² Source: US Cryptocurrency Perception Study, Q1 2023, Morning Consult