Aussie crypto exchange kicks off US expansion despite ‘regulatory risk’

Australian crypto exchange Coinjar is seeking to put its boots on the ground in the United States, with its CEO seemingly unfazed by the market’s “regulatory risk.”

In an interview with The Australian on May 1, Coinjar CEO and co-founder Asher Tan said he saw opportunity despite a recent wave of U.S. crypto firms

While the idea sounds good in theory, U.S. exchanges such as Coinbase provide an example of the potential roadblocks that Coinjar could face.

Coinbase has claimed on several occasions that it has actively sought to engage in dialogues with the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) in the name of compliance, but has ultimately had those efforts thrown back in its face.

The SEC slapped Coinbase with a Wells notice on March 22, essentially threatening legal action over some of the firm’s offerings, which it asserts are violating securities law. Coinbase however, has argued that it already disclosed such an offering to the SEC prior to getting the greenlight to go public.

In response, Coinbase has since filed a petition in federal court requesting the SEC to propose and adopt clearer regulatory guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry in the U.S.

“We are literally sitting up here on stage asking for regulation, asking for rules, asking for a framework that makes sense for our particular technology so that we can be registered,” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said at Consensus 2023 on April 27.