JPMorgan and Coinbase Chiefs in Heated Davos Dispute Over Crypto Legislation: Sources
Coinbase's Brian Armstrong engaged in media appearances surrounding his decision to withdraw the exchange's backing for a significant cryptocurrency bill in the United States, including a reported confrontation with JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon at Davos.
Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, allegedly approached Brian Armstrong during an informal coffee meeting at Davos the previous week, demanding that the Coinbase chief executive cease making false claims about banking institutions attempting to undermine the digital asset market structure legislation currently being reviewed by the United States Congress.
A Thursday report published by The Wall Street Journal indicated that the altercation between Dimon and Armstrong took place at the World Economic Forum the prior week while the Coinbase chief executive was enjoying coffee alongside Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Dimon allegedly interrupted Armstrong's conversation, declaring that the CEO was "full of s—," in reference to television interviews where the Coinbase executive had alleged that banking institutions were meddling with the US market structure legislation.
Representatives from the banking sector have expressed opposition to permitting stablecoin rewards within the proposed legislation. Conversely, numerous figures within the cryptocurrency sector, Armstrong among them, have advocated for the bill to incorporate provisions addressing stablecoin yield, asserting that failure to do so would enable "banks to ban their competition."
The Wall Street Journal reported that Armstrong encountered an unwelcoming response from additional banking sector executives. Brian Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America, allegedly informed the Coinbase CEO, "if you want to be a bank, just be a bank," in reference to the cryptocurrency exchange. Charlie Scharf, the chief executive of Wells Fargo, allegedly declined to engage in discussions about the issue with Armstrong.
The market structure legislation, which has remained under review in the US Senate following its approval in the House of Representatives in July, is confronting substantial opposition from Democratic legislators regarding ethics provisions and from banking and cryptocurrency lobbyists concerning potential ramifications for their individual industries.
The fight over rewards is really an anomaly in our collaborative relationship with the banks. We work closely with them and have announced multiple partnerships.
Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase chief policy officer, according to the Wall Street Journal
A spokesperson representing Coinbase informed Cointelegraph that the organization didn't have "anything new to add" regarding the report.
US market structure bill split into two committees
The Senate Banking Committee had been anticipated to conduct a markup session for its iteration of the market structure legislation on Jan. 15, but delayed the proceedings indefinitely following Armstrong's announcement that Coinbase was unable to support the bill "as written." As of Friday, the committee had not established a new date for its markup session.
The Senate Agriculture Committee, which maintains oversight of commodities laws and regulatory frameworks, cast votes to move forward with its bill along party lines on Thursday. Based on statements from lawmakers present at the proceeding, the legislation would require combination with the banking committee's iteration prior to a vote taking place in the Senate.