Headline: Coinbase shrugs off Wall Street rivals as global “Stand With Crypto” rallies highlight grassroots support
Coinbase executives say they aren’t worried about growing interest from Wall Street and traditional finance — pointing instead to a global grassroots movement they argue gives crypto a political and cultural edge.
“We have always said that a rising tide lifts all ships,” Katie Harries, Coinbase’s head of Policy for Europe, told CoinDesk on Friday. Harries said the exchange is “not at all” concerned by the increasing involvement of banks and institutional players in crypto markets around the world.
Her comments come amid company headwinds: Coinbase recently reported a loss of $1.49 per share versus analyst expectations for a $0.27 profit, and announced a 14% workforce reduction in the first week of May. Still, Harries emphasized that the established crypto industry has an engaged community that traditional firms can’t replicate.
Millions turn out for Stand With Crypto
Harries spoke in a written interview timed with Stand With Crypto (SWC) events held worldwide, asserting that turnout across cities such as London, Paris, New York and Sao Paulo demonstrates authentic, grassroots backing for crypto. “Millions of people around the world chose crypto because they believe in what it represents: open, accessible, peer-to-peer finance,” she said. “They are here because they believe in this technology and want their governments to support it.”
Coinbase says SWC is the world’s largest crypto-advocacy organization, counting more than 3.7 million members in six key markets and staging roughly 500 events across four continents (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Brazil and the European Union). The movement, Coinbase added, has prompted more than 2.5 million direct contacts between advocates and lawmakers.
Politics, polls and push for regulation
Harries also framed the crypto community as an emerging political force. While acknowledging that crypto is not at the top of most voters’ minds ahead of the U.S. midterms, she argued supporters have still been active: “Voters do care, and the numbers make that clear.”
That claim sits alongside a CoinDesk survey of 1,000 randomly selected U.S. voters, which found just 1% named crypto as their top concern. The poll — evenly split across political lines with 41% of respondents identifying to some degree with each major party and a credibility interval of ±3.53% — provides a more muted view of crypto’s salience among the electorate.
Still, Harries urged global regulators to seize the moment and adopt “sensible crypto frameworks,” saying “the window to shape sensible crypto regulation is open, and the people gathering at the events on Friday are watching.”
Event ties to Bitcoin Pizza Day and policy livestreams
The SWC events, which coincide with Bitcoin Pizza Day, include a livestream featuring discussions on ecosystem and policy developments worldwide. Coinbase highlighted the timing as significant given that market structure legislation is advancing through the U.S. Congress.
Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer and an SWC partner, echoed the global message: the rally “proves that the crypto voter is a global phenomenon. People around the world want the freedom to exchange value peer-to-peer, and they want their governments to help make that a reality,” he said, adding that “getting crypto regulation right is one of the most critical policy challenges of our generation.”
A reminder of crypto’s early days
Bitcoin Pizza Day marks the first widely publicized real-world bitcoin transaction: on May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas — a haul that, at current prices cited by Coinbase, would be worth roughly over $770 million today.
Whether the combination of grassroots pressure and growing institutional participation will speed sensible regulation or reshape market dynamics remains an open question — but Coinbase is betting the community’s momentum will help steer the debate.
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