Coinjar, an Australian crypto exchange, is looking to establish itself in the United States, with its CEO appearing undaunted by the market’s “regulatory risk.” Coinjar CEO and co-founder Asher Tan told The Australian on May 1 that he saw opportunities despite a recent wave of U.S. crypto startups raising concerns about the government’s approach to regulation.
“Where other exchanges see regulatory risk, we see opportunity,” he said. “We’ve always understood that regulation has a key role to play in crypto’s future, and we believe the American market will reward an exchange with our unparalleled compliance bona fides.”
Coinjar was formed in late 2013 and is situated in Melbourne. It was one of the first exchanges to open in Australia and has a license to operate in the United Kingdom starting in September 2021. It is estimated that it has 500,000 users in both nations.
Coinjar began its U.S. development efforts in May when it posted a single open position for anti-money laundering (AML) compliance officer. “CoinJar is expanding to the United States, and we are looking for an AML Compliance Officer.” “The successful candidate will report to the Head of Legal & Compliance and the Board, will take ownership of applicable programs and policies, including the AML/OFAC Program, and will implement processes to ensure adherence to them,” according to the job description.
Tan believes that Coinjar’s emphasis on regulatory compliance will be critical to its success in a challenging climate like the United States. “Licensing is done at the state level in the US, so we will gradually add states until we can get close to full coverage of states,” he said, adding that “while not every company is able or willing to satisfy this criterion, CoinJar believes we’re well suited to take on this challenge.”
While the concept is appealing in theory, US exchanges such as Coinbase illustrate the potential stumbling blocks that Coinjar may face. Coinbase has stated many times that it actively wanted to participate in discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the sake of compliance, but that such attempts were eventually rejected.
On March 22, the SEC issued a Wells notice to Coinbase, basically threatening legal action over certain of the company’s offerings, which it claims violate securities law. Coinbase, on the other hand, claims that it disclosed such an offering to the SEC prior to receiving approval to go public.
In response, Coinbase has filed a federal court lawsuit demanding that the SEC develop and adopt clearer regulatory rules for the cryptocurrency business in the United States.
“We are literally sitting up here on stage asking for regulation, rules, and a framework that makes sense for our particular technology so that we can be registered,” Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated on April 27 at Consensus 2023.
