Coinbase eyes UAE as global crypto hub

[ad_1]

Faced with regulatory pressure in the United States, Coinbase reportedly set its sights on the United Arab Emirates.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Monday (May 8) that the company is considering the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a possible international hub.

We are looking for a home to set up an international hub that could service the long tail of countries around the world, Armstrong said.

In a blog entry on Sunday, May 7, the company wrote that the Middle East acts as a strategic bridge between its customer bases in Europe and Asia.

According to Bloomberg, Armstrong says Coinbase still sees the US as an important market and has no plans to leave the country, despite his criticism of what he says is a lack of clarity on the country’s crypto regulations. .

He told Bloomberg that the UAE’s approach was more forward-thinking than that of the United States.

The news comes days after Coinbase launched the Coinbase International Exchange, which allows institutional users in eligible jurisdictions outside of the United States to trade perpetual futures contracts.

The creation of a global perpetual futures exchange for digital assets will help support an update to the financial system by making Coinbases’ trusted products and services more accessible to digital asset users who live outside of the United States. , the company said on its blog.

As more and more markets move forward with regulatory frameworks to become crypto hubs, we believe now is the right time to launch this international exchange.

Armstrong had warned in April that crypto companies would start doing business in offshore havens if the US and UK did not develop clear regulations.

Everything is on the table, including moving or whatever else is necessary, Armstrong told an industry conference when former UK chancellor George Osbourne asked if the CEO could see Coinbase leaving the US .

I think the US has the potential to be an important market for crypto, but right now we don’t see the regulatory clarity we need, he added. I think in a number of years, if we don’t see that regulatory clarity emerging in the United States, we may have to look at investing more elsewhere in the world.

Nevertheless, Coinbase insisted on its blog entry that it was still committed to the United States, despite what it called regulation-by-enforcement that led to a disappointing trend for crypto development. in the USA.

[ad_2]