The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States has issued a warning, stating that the $2.6 trillion digital asset market is losing talent in the nation as developers relocate to areas with more lucid cryptocurrency regulations.
According to a recent Coinbase analysis, “the U.S. continues to lose developer share, down 14 points in the past five years; only 26% of crypto developers are US-based today.”
Nearly two thirds of cryptocurrency developers nowadays are non-Americans. As a result of the United States’ diminishing influence in the global cryptocurrency market, the report noted that over the past year, more than 20% more blockchain developers have been employed in Latin America, Southern and Eastern Europe, South Asia, and Western Africa.
Against this, Coinbase said that less than one-third of cryptocurrency developers reside in the United States.
However, analysts claim that the reason for the explosive increase of developers outside of the United States is that it is simpler to find blockchain talent in regions with lower cost of living.
Nevertheless, Coinbase has struggled over the past few years due to the ambiguity around cryptocurrency laws in the United States. The cryptocurrency exchange has sued the nation’s top regulator in an effort to gain greater openness over cryptocurrency regulations after a contentious dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a brief statement, Coinbase stated that “The SEC demands that the industry comply with inapplicable, inapt, and still-evolving securities-law requirements, or else join the many companies currently facing enforcement actions.” However, the SEC declines to carry out the necessary rulemaking to establish dependable guidelines, demonstrate how it thinks compliance with those irrelevant rules is even feasible, and offer a way to do so.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, made hints about the company considering other jurisdictions in April of last year. “Everything is up for discussion, including relocating,” he declared. Since then, the business has looked into moving its main office to the UK, which is its second-biggest market. It has also been extended to Singapore and Brazil.
