CoinJar enters US markets despite regulatory heat

Coinjar, an Australian cryptocurrency exchange, is looking to establish a presence in the United States, and its CEO doesn’t seem too worried about the regulatory risk in the industry.

Coinjar CEO and co-founder Asher Tan told The Australian on May 1 that he was optimistic about the industry despite the current trend of U.S. crypto businesses expressing concern about the government’s attitude to regulation.

According to him, regulation plays a significant role in developing the cryptocurrency industry. With its unmatched compliance credentials, he thinks the exchange would be well received in the American market.

“Where other exchanges see regulatory risk, we see opportunity.”

Coinjar CEO and co-founder Asher Tan

In May, Coinjar announced its intention to launch operations in the United States by posting a job ad for an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance officer.

Licensing is done at a state level in the US. Therefore, the firm plans to gradually add states until they can get close to complete state coverage. CoinJar believes it is well-suited to take on this challenge.

While appealing in concept, Coinjar may face competition from established players in the cryptocurrency trading market, such as Coinbase in the United States.

Coinjar was established in late 2013 and has its headquarters in Melbourne. It was one of the first to enter the Australian market and, in September 2021, was granted permission to conduct business in the United Kingdom. There are supposedly half a million users between the two nations.

This comes as the regulatory saga in the US is heating up, forcing many exchanges to leave the markets.

On March 22, the SEC issued a Wells notice to Coinbase, threatening legal action over certain of the company’s offerings that it claims violate securities law. Coinbase, on the other hand, claims it informed the SEC of its intention to make such an offering before it was approved to go public.

Coinbase has responded by filing a petition with a federal court, asking the SEC to establish and approve more specific regulatory standards for the cryptocurrency business in the United States.