The new US administration is drawing in global investors with its strategic moves. With the forthcoming Trump administration’s expected pro-crypto approach, crypto exchange Bitget is exploring potential partnerships with US firms to secure a foothold in the country.
BitGet CEO Gracy Chen said, “We are revisiting a U.S. strategy, although we have not decided on anything yet[ …] If we had a local partner who has many of those licenses already, then we could do a joint venture, for example. So we don’t need to go through all the applications. We might take that approach, but it’s not decided yet.”
In a recent interview, the exchange’s CEO said that Bitget considered starting the process of getting US state licenses in early 2022. But after FTX went down, things didn’t look good. Chen added that the “ridiculously high” court costs and the possibility of going up against Coinbase directly made things worse.
Even if Trump makes crypto regulations clearer in the US as president, newcomers will still have to deal with a mess of state-based licenses and different government agencies.
Still, Bitget knows how to make partnerships that work for both parties. For example, its most recent partnership with the U.K. trading firm Archax helped it comply with British rules for financial advertising.
Unfriendly US crypto regulations force companies overseas
Crypto has been in regulatory trouble in the United States, especially under the Biden administration. During SEC’s Chair Gary Gensler’s tenure, several crypto exchanges, crypto investors, and traders have left America. Bitget’s planned entry to America shows faith in the new Trump administration.
In April 2023, Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong said that the crypto exchange would consider leaving the US if the industry’s regulatory environment does not become clearer.
Armstrong asserted, “I think the U.S. has the potential to be an important market for crypto, but right now, we are not seeing that regulatory clarity that we need […] I think in a number of years if we don’t see that regulatory clarity emerge in the U.S., we may have to consider investing more elsewhere in the world.”
Regulatory uncertainties not only affected Coinbase. Its rival exchange, Bittrex, said it planned to exit the US, citing “the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment.” The reports followed a Wells Notice the crypto exchange had received from the SEC.
In addition, Binance’s US arm, Binance.US, faced a market backlash that led the exchange to consider exiting America. The crypto lawfare later saw Changpeng Zhao (CZ) step down from leadership roles and pay $4 billion in fines.
“Binance may choose to leave the U.S., which could make a resolution with the SEC easier,” says Philip Moustakis, a partner at New York-based law firm Seward & Kissel. “If Binance were to agree to leave the United States and shut down all operations in the United States and no longer access the U.S. capital markets and investors, I think it might be easier for them to find that resolution.”
Maybe things will be different under Donald Trump. Earlier today, his son – Eric Trump, said that the United States could become a global crypto hub with ‘sensible regulations.’
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