> If anything your issue should be with the regulators for not regulating, not Coinbase for trying to operate a business responsibly as possible without clear regulation.
I very explicitly _do not want_ lawmakers to move at the speed of start-ups. Start-ups are there to move fast and break things. Laws are more rigid, and thus NEEDS to take it slow to get a full picture of the risk/reward before legislating.
Coinbase, as a start-up, was a pioneer in the shaky legal ground that is cryptocurrencies. They ran the risk of running afoul of a few laws, but made heavy profits in their earlier years (including a huge public market listing) because they took that risk. Now that the risk has materialized, they are crying because they do not want to take ownership of the risks of their operation. Rather, they would like to socialize the losses that they will take by having to finally abide by the regulation. How is that sensible at all?
The fat cats behind these "innovators" are increasingly forgetting the fact that every investment ever sits somewhere in the risk/reward curve. They would rather remake the wheel into "government bad/reward" curve, where any risk and losses is covered or subsidized by the government and all the profits flows into private coffers. I would rather they work for their keep, for once in our collective lifetimes.