Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, has refuted the claims made by the United States’s Senator Elizabeth Warren that the crypto exchange has hired former government officials to cause hurdles in the progress of regulations for digital assets.
Shirzad has stated that these claims are wrong and taint the exchange’s image and its commitment to see more explicit regulations being introduced for the crypto industry.
Shirzad made his feelings known about these allegations in a letter dated December 22, 2023, in which he vehemently rejected the claims made by the sitting U.S. senator and reasserted the exchange’s position of seeing regulatory measures being responsibly introduced to the crypto industry.
In a statement made on his X (formerly Twitter) profile, he said: “Your claim that Coinbase is attempting to undermine bipartisan legislation related to cryptocurrency is simply wrong. Your accusations are unfounded and a wilful misrepresentation of our intentions and efforts.”
Another clarification he gave in the letter was the exchange’s decision to recruit former government personnel was not made to gain any favors for them but to seek their guidance in the company’s initiative to safeguard the well-being of the crypto users in the U.S.
He said that Coinbase takes massive pride in its team of national security experts, who are working diligently to protect the interests of its customer base.
Warren’s accusation stems from a concern she raised, in which she stated that many government officials are trying to lay a platform intended to be an audition for different asset lobbying positions. In her letter, she implied that Coinbase’s global advisory council is the prime example of the point she is trying to make.
According to her statement made in the letter: “This abuse of the revolving door is appalling, revealing that the crypto industry is spending millions to give itself a veneer of legitimacy while fighting tooth and nail to stonewall common sense rules designed to restrict the use of crypto for terror financing – rules that could cut into crypto company profits.”
Coinbase has expanded its Global Advisory Council by welcoming four national security experts. On November 7, Cointelegraph reported that the council was undergoing a strategic transformation with the inclusion of new members, all of whom have previously held significant roles in government.
The new members are Mark Esper, a former U.S. Secretary of Defense; Stephanie Murphy, a former congressperson and national security expert; Frances Townsend, who served as a homeland security adviser to former U.S. President George W. Bush; and David Urban, a former managing director of BRG Group.
This isn’t the first time Warren has raised regulatory concerns surrounding cryptocurrency.
She recently gained crucial bipartisan support for her Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, which aims to tackle crypto’s role in criminal activities like terrorist financing and sanctions evasion.
This bill, backed by prominent Senators across the aisle, requires stricter regulations on crypto exchanges and wallets to prevent money laundering and could potentially pass the Senate despite opposition from the industry and some Republicans.
However, numerous cryptocurrency experts are hopeful of a rejection of the proposed bill, citing past moments about Elizabeth Warren’s historical legislative performance. According to information from the bill-tracking platform GovTrack, Warren has put forth 330 bills over her 11-year tenure as a senator. Of these, only ten were incorporated into other bills, and just one relatively obscure bill has been successfully enacted.
