‘March Has Been a Brutal Month for Crypto,’ Says Ron Hammond

• Ron Hammond shared a Twitter thread about the recent challenges faced by the crypto industry in March.
• “While Binance news yesterday was no shock to DC, the Coinbase one was,” Hammond said regarding recent actions by regulators.
• The director’s tweets call for strategic actions to address the various challenges facing the crypto industry.

Ron Hammond, the director of government relations for the Blockchain Association, recently shared a Twitter thread about the recent challenges faced by the crypto industry in March. In the thread, Hammond criticized the US government’s treatment of crypto companies, specifically Coinbase SEC’s Wells notice and Binance CFTC’s enforcement action.

In his thread, Hammond compared the US congress’s treatment of Coinbase and Binance. He argued that “Coinbase has done everything to engage with policymakers and offer solutions to compliance” issues than Binance, which has a “shady track record in compliance and with little engagement in DC.” Yet, regardless of the exchanges’ approach, both companies are facing similar outcomes. He mentioned that “while Binance news yesterday was no shock to DC, the Coinbase one was.”

Hammond suggested that the recent actions by regulators, combined with the difficulty some firms are facing in obtaining bank accounts, have led some in the industry to question whether the “US is worth it.” He also expressed concerns about the direction of the administration on crypto, citing recent attacks on the industry and the migration of startups to other countries.

In addition, he mentioned upcoming oversight hearings and legislation that could impact the industry. In one of his tweets, he said,

So what’s next? Today SEC Chair Gensler and CFTC Chair Benham will testify in front of the Appropriations Committees. This is a common hearing for the respective agency budgets. These committees aren’t heavily engaged in crypto policy, but expect the SEC to receive backlash.

Hammond also called for strategic actions to address the various challenges facing the industry, including custody, tax, accounting standards, stablecoin regulation, banking services, NFTs, spot market regulation, and mining.

According to Hammond, while some blame the Biden Administration, others point to the collapse of FTX, Terra, and Celsius as the root cause of the attacks on the crypto industry. However, he mentioned,

The attack on Coinbase is different though and the coordination taking place behind the scenes is similar to the infrastructure fight. Coinbase has a lot more allies than enemies.

Nonetheless, he believes the upcoming oversight hearings and court decisions in April, May, or June are seen as pivotal in determining the future of the industry. “In a split Congress, anything is hard to accomplish but there is a strong coalition ready to fight,” Hammond stated as he ended his thread.

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