4. Financial regulations are likely to be imposed on cryptocurrency, and that would assuredly impact crypto exchanges like Coinbase.
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It’s still early days for cryptocurrency regulation from federal regulators, and Coinbase considers that unknown future to be a major risk factor.
“We are subject to an extensive and highly-evolving regulatory landscape,” the filing says, “and any adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws and regulations could adversely affect our brand, reputation, business, operating results, and financial condition.”
Beyond cryptocurrency regulation itself, Coinbase operates in the financial services world, and that makes it subject to other types of regulation.
“These legal and regulatory regimes … evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted, and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another,” the filing says. “Moreover, the complexity and evolving nature of our business and the significant uncertainty surrounding the regulation of the cryptoeconomy requires us to exercise our judgement as to whether certain laws, rules, and regulations apply to us, and it is possible that governmental bodies and regulators may disagree with our conclusions.”