China will Benefit Most from Unclear US Regulations
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes that the unclear regulations regarding crypto in America will drive business offshore.
- Armstrong stated that if the situation remains the same, “adversary nations” like China will prevail as crypto hubs.
- He said that blockchain is a “transformative technology that can revolutionize a wide array of sectors.”
- The executive gave examples of major companies in China like Tencent and Alipay that have decided to adopt blockchain technology.
The unclear regulatory policies of the United States when it comes to the legalization of crypto assets have left the developing industry in a state of confusion. Interestingly, according to a recent statement from the CEO and co-founder of the largest crypto exchange in the US, Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, this might prove to be challenging for the country. The Coinbase executive believes that the unclear policies of the US will benefit the world’s second-most populous country, China, and will push many companies offshore.
In a May 30 op-ed for MarketWatch, the crypto entrepreneur stated that due to the recent downfall of the crypto market and the implosion of multiple crypto companies, it will become easier for regulators to label the industry as unstable. However, Armstrong stated that America is missing the “big picture” when it comes to digital assets.
“We and others in the industry have been asking policymakers and regulators to give us the regulatory clarity needed to ensure consumer protection and realize the promise of crypto,” said the CEO of Coinbase, while adding:
“But instead of robust new rules that would help these efforts, we’re getting threats of enforcement action. By enforcing restrictive policies, the US is inadvertently driving crypto-innovation offshore. That shift will compromise America’s legacy of pioneering technological advancements, and weaken our national security posture.”
China is gradually becoming more accepting of blockchain technology and is also focusing on the adoption of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. As reported earlier by Bitnation, China is set to debut a National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center that will be focused on the advancement of the blockchain industry. The approval for the blockchain research hub was given by the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology.
On the other hand, China also debuted a national NFT marketplace at the beginning of the year, and the platform serves as a secondary market for NFT trading in the country. The platform was created by the state-owned Chinese Technology Exchange, Art Exhibitions China, and the privately-owned Huban Digital Copyrights Ltd.
Armstrong stated that cryptographic blockchains are not financial services, but they are one of their many applications. He said that blockchain is a “transformative technology that can revolutionize a wide array of sectors.” While citing examples of some of the biggest companies in China like Alipay and Tencent, the Coinbase exec stated that the Asian country is more receptive to blockchain technology as compared to the US.
Recently, Tencent announced that it had received a novel patent for a blockchain-based missing person’s poster. This simple patent took over three years to be approved from the initial date of filing in December 2019. The patent includes the generation of data upon request by a user indicating that a person has gone missing.
Furthermore, China has also been working towards the development of the digital yuan and increasing the official CBDC’s adoption rate in the country. WeChat, the country’s leading social networking and payment app, recently announced that it has integrated the digital yuan into its platform, allowing users to use the digital yuan for payments on certain WeChat mini-programs and other platforms.
“Crypto, like the internet before it, has the potential to modernize finance and numerous other sectors, from supply chains to social media, by offering a faster, cheaper, more private, and accessible platform. It’s already underway,” noted Armstrong.
The Coinbase exec believes that the traditional financial capitals, including the UK, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Japan, the European Union, Australia, and Singapore, are “vying to become crypto hubs” because they recognize the potential of blockchain technology, but the US is moving in the opposite direction.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
