Amid a fraught period\u00a0for some high-profile United States crypto firms and financial regulators, Kraken chief legal officer\u00a0Marco Santori is calling for a dose of pragmatism going forward.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Bloomberg\u2019s QuickTake Stock broadcast on Thursday, Santori told viewers, \u201cYou\u2019re living in a fantasy world if you don\u2019t believe that this industry is going to face heavier, more Wall Street-like regulation from governments in the U.S. and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Santori\u2019s comments follow threats by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month to sue the well-known crypto exchange Coinbase over a crypto yield program the commission deemed to be a security. The move sparked the exchange\u2019s CEO, Brian Armstrong, to adopt a combative and resistant stance on social media, although the exchange has since announced it will scrap the program at issue, in line with the SEC\u2019s wishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commenting directly on the developments, Santori said, \u201cI\u2019ve certainly followed Brian\u2019s tweets, and I\u2019ll say that look, you\u2019re just not being honest with yourself about the crypto community if a little bit of you doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s saying what a lot of people are thinking.\u201d He soon pivoted, however, taking pains to articulate the more pragmatic agenda he\u2019s pursuing at Kraken:<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t support that kind of approach with regulators. It\u2019s never been successful historically, and from our experience, we\u2019ve found the SEC to be open to discussion.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n