Just-in: Coinbase to expand legal and compliance team Amid regulatory crackdown

As the SEC threatened to sue, Coinbase, the largest publicly listed crypto exchange has decided to abide by the regulatory framework and collaborate with the authorities in sketching out a “sensible regulation” for the crypto industry in the US. Coinbase’s website has posted over 350 job openings, including legal and compliance job profiles to restore its relations with the regulators.

In a recent interview with TechCrunch the exchange’s CEO, Brian Armstrong folded and announced that “Coinbase wants to be an advisor and a helpful advocate for how the U.S. can create that sensible regulation…In fact, there’s a proposal that we’re putting out at the end of this month, or maybe early next month, that is our proposed regulatory framework.”

Soon after the CEO stated Coinbase’s intentions of being the regulator’s advocate, the exchange updated its website with job profiles such as Legal and compliance team, “head of APAC compliance” in Singapore, “head of international compliance” in London, and “global anti-bribery and corruption managers” in the UK and US. Furthermore, the job descriptions specified political proficiency as a necessary skill. For example, a role based out of Washington, DC categorically asked for “excellent political judgment” and experience in managing high-profile political and media crises.

Coinbase could be the next Binance

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong lashed out at the SEC for threatening the exchange of the lawsuit and accused the commission of “sketchy behavior”. However, last Friday, September 17, Coinbase raised the white flag against SEC and released an update stating that it will roll back its plans to launch the USDC APY program. Coinbase could potentially be heading towards the Binance’s direction, i.e., it may be seen going against the ethics of the decentralized sphere to avoid regulators’ wrath.

“As we continue our work to seek regulatory clarity for the crypto industry as a whole, we’ve made the difficult decision not to launch the USDC APY program announced below. We have also discontinued the waitlist for this program as we turn our work to what comes next.”, stated the exchange.