Just-In: Coinbase CEO Responds to Peter Thiel’s Concerns of Chinese Dominance Over BTC

Coinbase Inc, the cryptocurrency exchange is all set to make its public debut on Nasdaq today in the next few hours. Brian Armstrong, the co-founder, and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange appeared on CNBC for an interview and said that the listing of Coinbase would be a landmark moment for the crypto ecosystem.

During the interview, Armstrong was also asked about his opinion on recent comments made by Peter Thiel who has called Bitcoin a Chinese Financial weapon. Armstrong suggested that Thiel’s comment should be taken positively as it highlights China’s growing dominance in the digital asset space. He explained,

What I assumed he meant. is actually a good point… which is China has embraced cryptocurrencies in a big way and as of today, they are the only country with a central bank digital currency that is life. Almost every other country would have a digital currency of their own in the future and I believe China is substantially ahead in the space.

"China has really embraced cryptocurrency and blockchain in a big way– starting from about six years ago or so," says @Brian_Armstrong on Peter Thiel's comments about #bitcoin. "They're substantially far ahead." pic.twitter.com/9IzFEHYXmD

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 14, 2021

Armstrong also said that he hopes their public debut would legitimize the crypto space and would make people realize that the cryptocurrency ecosystem is growing to become an integral part of the financial ecosystem.

Growing Chinese Dominance in the Digital Asset Space a Cause of Concern?

China started working on its national digital currency in 2014 itself when most of the world was not even aware of cryptocurrencies. As of today, the digital yuan is a fully developed project with pilot programs running throughout the country at a mass scale. Most of the other nations including the US, UK, Germany, South Korea, and many more are still in the preliminary stage and years behind China. Many nations view China’s rapid progress as a threat to their financial sovereignty.

Coinbase going public is also a significant event given it would be the first major crypto exchange with 56 million users to go public allowing many traditional players to gain crypto exposure. Armstrong also hoped their public debut would lead to better regulations in the States to keep them ahead of the curve.

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