Coinbase, the US-based cryptocurrency exchange, is not happy about something. That thing has to do with Wells notice. A Wells notice is the official way a regulator tells a company it intends to sue the company in court. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has alerted Coinbase that it was coming.
Then, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase went to Twitter to “report” the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yes, Mr. Armstrong took to Twitter to share his thoughts and clarify the situation with the SEC early Wednesday morning. “Some really sketchy behavior coming out of the SEC recently,” he began, adding:
Ostensibly the SEC’s goal is to protect investors and create fair markets. So who are they protecting here and where is the harm? People seem pretty happy to be earning yield on these various products, across lots of other crypto companies.
“Shutting these down would arguably be harming consumers more than protecting them, and by preventing Coinbase from launching the same thing that other companies already have live, they’re creating an unfair market,” he argued.
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Armstrong further opined: “If we end up in court we may finally get the regulatory clarity the SEC refuses to provide. But regulation by litigation should be the last resort for the SEC, not the first.”
My Question: is this a possibility in Nigeria where SEC and the Central Bank of Nigeria can unilaterally SUSPEND, PAUSE, BAN and do whatever they like without engaging companies? But here, a company is essentially reporting its regulator being confident that the court will do its work. People, we need to advance our corporate democratic systems in Nigeria.
1/ Some really sketchy behavior coming out of the SEC recently.
Story time…— Brian Armstrong ?? (@brian_armstrong) September 8, 2021
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They have grown, so more should be expected. At large they all understand what is at stake.
Bringing it to Nigeria.
While I would not be so quick to condemn regulatory bodies here, because, no matter the foresight they have, they hardly can come up with good policies at an initial state. It known that Innovation precedes Regulation,so, to rise trials and error should be expected.
However, I believe this governing bodies should be more agile and do away with their existing playbook. Circumstance- specific regulation helps better.
Looking at our level of development as a country, our best bet would be to appoint entrepreneurs to head regulatory agencies. We are not really at the level where career employees or civil servants should be heading our key regulatory agencies. The way an entrepreneur or a builder looks at things is quite different from how a former CEO or career employees see them.
When you build a great company from scratch, you appreciate the struggles and fundamentals, that you earn your MBA from Harvard or LSE doesn’t in any way qualify you as a builder, you can only manage, based on what you were taught.
We do not have enough people who can use power responsibly here yet, so by appointing entrepreneurs and founders as heads of regulatory agencies, it opens up wider vista for dialogue and support systems. Regulations are never with the intent of punishing entities or feeling important, but rather to ensure a healthy sector, without injuring any of the stakeholders.
Entrepreneurs, consumers, government, employees, and communities, they are all stakeholders, no one is less important, and no one is more important; the best regulators are those who can creatively balance the needs of all these important stakeholders.
We need people who can really think and execute, all these excess schooling and long work experiences haven’t really done us well. Every small mistake is hugely consequential, that’s why sound judgment is required at every stage.