Public-traded cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has changed from its previous “political neutrality” stance exhibited in late 2020 to fully incorporating a portal for legislators and political officials in its app.
Coinbase adds a political feature in its app
On September 14th, the co-founder of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, revealed the exchange has integrated a crypto advocacy portal into its mobile application. Armstrong said the new addition would help educate the 103 million verified Coinbase users on the crypto positions held by political leaders in their location.
For instance, U.S. users can see crypto sentiment scores from members of congress based on publicly available statements they’ve made, register to vote, and find out about local town hall events.
Coinbase’s CEO.
The political officials listed on the portal have negative and positive score ratings, with the latter meaning they hold a friendly stance on digital currencies and vice versa. Their stance on crypto is based on publicly available data and media statements made in the past. Coinbase sources these data from CryptoActionNetwork, according to Armstrong.
Coinbase reverses its anti-politics stance
The latest development comes nearly two years after the exchange instructed employees to keep off from political activities in the workplace, even offering severance packages for those who could not comply with its “political neutrality” policy.
Precisely on September 27th, Armstrong wrote that political and societal issues were not related to the company’s mission. “We don’t advocate for any particular causes or candidates internally that are unrelated to our mission because it is a distraction from our mission,” he added.
Coinbase’s stance on politics has changed. The company realizes that supporting leaders with sensible crypto policy is essential to promoting economic freedom with regard to the emerging digital assets class.
Should Binance and other exchanges follow suit?
The crypto industry has reached a critical stage where leaders who are cognizant of the potential are needed to advocate for friendly policy to bolster digital currencies while also curbing the associated risks.
Over time, Coinbase’s new crypto policy effort will help drive donations to pro-innovation and crypto-friendly leaders. But Armstrong hopes that every individual and company in the cryptocurrency community will “rally to engage elected leaders and drive sensible policies” to support more economic freedom across the world.
