Coinbase: campaign to promote crypto regulation

The famous US crypto exchange Coinbase has kicked off a campaign urging US cryptocurrency users to contact their representatives in Congress to support crypto regulation.

52M Americans own crypto. They’re younger & more diverse than the US population in total. But their voices aren’t being heard by Congress.

That’s about to change.

Here’s what we’re doing—and what you can do to help mobilize 1M people to #StandWithCrypto: https://t.co/stmH0WVUhO

— Coinbase (@coinbase) September 19, 2023

The goal is to mobilize one million of the 52 million Americans who own cryptocurrencies. 

According to Coinbase, crypto users are younger and more diverse than the overall US population, and their voices are not being heard by Congress. 

Coinbase’s initiative to promote crypto regulation

The initiative has been called Stand with Crypto, and hopes to target the top 10% of the 52 million US cryptocurrency owners.

The mobilization should serve to resist the status quo, and advocate for policies that update the current financial system so that it is fairer, more distributed, and more inclusive. 

The goal, precisely, is to mobilize an “army” of one million advocates for change. 

According to Coinbase, nearly nine out of ten Americans believe it is time to update the financial system, but such an evolution would be slowed by resistance from those who currently hold power and defend the status quo. 

This would favor outdated systems that limit economic freedom and opportunity for Americans. 

But that could change with next year’s elections, which is why the exchange urges people to call their congressman of choice to urge him or her to do something about it.

To do so, they can use a so-called “call maker,” which uses innovative technology to connect people to their key member of Congress. 

Regulation

According to Coinbase, upgrading the financial system and moving beyond the status quo requires clear regulation of cryptocurrencies. 

After what the SEC did this year, including against Coinbase itself, it is now more than clear that the current non-specific regulation is not clear at all, and needs to be updated. Not least because instead in other parts of the world they have already done so, such as in the European Union. 

The current approach of only enforcing existing regulations would jeopardize innovation, jobs, and U.S. global leadership.

The exchange is convinced that cryptocurrencies will update the global financial system, which is why it proposes as its first act the passage of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (“FIT21”). This law would create a strong regulatory framework with clear definitions and consumer protections, and a regulatory path that does not stifle innovation. 

FIT21 has already been approved by the House Financial Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives, with all-party support, and will come to a vote in the House in a few months.

The media campaign

Stand with Crypto was launched a few weeks ago, and has already convinced more than a hundred thousand people to take action through the decentralized app. 

It is an all-platform paid media campaign that will focus specifically on nine key states-Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

Also in Georgia they would like to build a crypto club with at least 11,779 members.

On September 27 there will be Stand with Crypto Day, during which innovators, entrepreneurs and developers from around the country will fly to Washington to serve as public advocates for members of Congress and government officials. 

It is therefore for all intents and purposes a major initiative, funded by the leading U.S. crypto exchange. 

With this in mind, it seems unlikely that the initiative will have any real effect, not least because those who get involved will be next year’s voters, that is, those on whom politicians will have to rely to get elected.