Well that escalated quickly. Coinbase Guy Makes Youtube Video

I generally don’t write about blockchain, crypto, NFTs, and the like because who knows - it’s not a thing that I’m excited about.

Blockchain is a technology stack whose potential remains elusive. I feel like all of the stuff that could be built on blockchain, it has failed to evolve mainly because the blockchain is not an accessible everyday, useful true tech stack that is used by developers.

Blockchain should have evolved by now enabling applications to be mainstream, not a dream. Just the way that browser and Java innovation did, enabling a generation of SaaS applications to emerge. The way that mobile smartphone apps proliferated because of the iPhone, iOS, the App Store, and the Human Design Interface guidelines by Apple and its brethren from Google, and Android. The way that e-commerce boom was powered by Shopify and even Amazon.

Instead, we got Shitecoins and Monkey JPEGs

OK, so I accidentally stumbled upon this video above that made me think, this guy Brian Armstrong, he needs a time machine to start his company somewhere else.

I know nothing about any of this so - I rapidly researched and asked Google and ChatGPT and this is what we have.

Coinbase, a popular American crypto trading platform received something called a Wells notice in March. It is apparently a warning that the SEC intended to bring an enforcement action against the crypto exchange. Eew.

The SEC alleged that Coinbase was selling unregistered securities, in violation of federal law. The notice specifically targeted Coinbase's spot trading, staking, custody, and institutional trading businesses.

Again, I know nothing except I saw Coinbase’s response. A youtube video above. It felt low key epic.

Propaganda outlets like CNBC referred to their response as “fiery”

Doesn’t seem “fiery”.

Do these headlines by the mainstream mouth of the Ministry of Information mean these Coinbase guys are in trouble? Who knows.

I remember seeing this matte black on matte black Lamborghini SUV in Orange County at startup event a few years back. It had a black-on-black “C” logo. I realized it was Coinbase’s “C” — like Superman.

Startup bros in the parking lot both swooned and guffawed.

I now wish I had run after that car and talked to its occupant. Brian Armstrong. I thought- wow Lamborghini makes an SUV?

In retrospect, Brian seems like a fascinating figure.

His actual response you can judge for yourself seems measured. He’s in a suit. His law person is in a suit. They made nice on-screen bullet-pointed slides.

In a blog post from said chief legal officer Paul Grewal, Coinbase asserted that it does not list, clear, or effect trading in securities, and accused the SEC of relying on "superficial and incorrect analogies" to justify its analysis.

Grewal told CNBC that Coinbase had discussed the very aspects of its business that were the subject of the Wells notice with the SEC when it went public, and that "nothing has changed." Coinbase has been preparing to grapple with the SEC in what is an existential case not just for the company, but for the future of the crypto industry in the US.

If the SEC succeeds, it could force Coinbase to close down its spot trading, staking, custody, and institutional trading businesses. Despite extensive dialogue with Coinbase over the years, the SEC has never approved a crypto-asset entity as a national securities exchange.

Represented by Sullivan & Cromwell, Coinbase emphasized that it has never wanted to litigate with the SEC, and that the regulator should not want to litigate either. "Litigation will put the Commission's own actions on trial," Coinbase said, and "erode public trust cultivated over decades."

Ok, I guess that’s fiery.

What do you think happens here?

Is that rocket ship to Mars ready Elon Musk? This dude might need it.