The Last Crypto Man Standing

 

Like it or not, the crypto industry has now gained a new face: Brian Armstrong.

CEOs come and go in the crypto landscape. Some of them win, most of them lose… and only a few remain – but is Armstrong one of them?

It is a question worth asking after the head of Coinbase has been on the job for over a decade now. During his tenure, he has outlasted most of his business partners, as well as creating competition between top exchanges operating in the U.S.

Being hailed as the last man standing in the crypto ecosystem after the fall of Sam Bankman-Fried and recent changes for Changpeng Zhao, Coinbase CEO has held on to a net worth of $6.2 billion as of December 2023, even in volatile times.
 

• Following the massive FTX fraud scheme, SBF was aiming to rewrite the rules of U.S. futures trading, an arena Coinbase has just recently started targeting. SBF’s vision obviously couldn’t come to life, giving a huge edge for Coinbase.

• CZ is no longer a threat to Armstrong.

• Despite Binance still reigning as the world’s largest exchange and being a direct competitor to Coinbase’s global ambitions, this leaves more room to the CEO to breathe.

However, crypto’s competitive environment is never easy to navigate, especially with Coinbase currently being the SEC’s main target.

For context, the SEC sued Coinbase in early June 2023, alleging that the platform was simultaneously operating as a broker, an exchange, and a clearinghouse for unregistered securities.

As an immediate response and as expected, Coinbase (COIN) asked a judge to dismiss the SEC case against it, alleging the regulator is stepping well outside of its jurisdiction in suing the crypto exchange.

Fast forward to 2024, the hearing of Coinbase’s Motion for judgment on the pleadings will be held this Wednesday, January 17th with 4 possible scenarios:
 

1. Judge Denies the Coinbase Motion.
    
2. Judge Grants Coinbase’s Motion “with prejudice”.
    
3. Judge Grants Coinbase’s Motion “without prejudice”.
    
4. Judge Grants motion with respect to the claims relating to the 13 crypto tokens, but denies with respect to the staking service. 

Judge Failla understands the stakes are enormous in this case, and sentiment is expecting her to issue a ruling quickly.

The SEC has been going on very strongly about regulations and is certainly not backing down in the new year.

Are we set to start 2024 with another title relinquishment, or should we keep our hopes up for a positive outlook...

With that being said, has the crypto industry become nothing but a domino game with big faces being eliminated one by one, or does it signal necessary evolution paving the way to a more sustainable financial landscape?