US Response to Facebook’s Libra Is ‘Ridiculous,’ says Coinbase CEO

Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of major crypto exchange Coinbase, tweeted on Oct. 5 that he expects the United States government to react to China’s stablecoin project by reconsidering its “ridiculous” response to Facebook’s Libra digital currency.

The U.S. government wants to be left behind

In his tweet, Armstrong said he believes that “the way the U.S. government reacted it's like they almost want to be left behind.” He also voiced overall concerns over the United States possibly becoming obsolete due to innovation obstruction in a subsequent tweet:

“The way for countries to remain relevant over the long term and continue to have high economic growth is to invest in science, technology, and innovation. If the government can help here, even better. But first it needs to do no harm.”

Special interest groups block innovation

Armstrong also explained that “innovation often looks counter-intuitive and disruptive,” but “the best first step is often just to stay out of the way.” He also noted that governments are often influenced by special interest groups which “will play on fears and try to block innovation here.”

As if echoing Armstrong’s sentiment, payment processor PayPal has recently left the Libra Association, reportedly due to concerns over potentially excessive regulatory scrutiny that could follow.

At the same time, China’s Central Bank has said — contradicting previous statements — that there is no specific launch date in mind for its digital currency. 

Still, as Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 27, Chinese Fintech Theme Index has risen over 50% in 2019, outperforming the broader market after the Chinese national digital currency was announced.