Coinbase CEO Criticizes U.S. AML Regulations as Ineffective, Calls for Overhaul by Trump's Proposed DOGE Agency

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has some strong opinions about U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. He believes they’re a failure and a waste of taxpayer money.

In a recent post on social media, he suggested that these policies need a fresh look. He thinks President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could be the right agency to tackle this issue.

Armstrong stated, “Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations have been a policy failure. They cost around $213 billion annually, harm legitimate consumers, and only manage to stop about 0.2% of illicit activity according to the UN. Sounds like a job for DOGE.”

He also proposed a “sunset provision” for all laws. This means that laws would automatically expire after a certain period unless Congress votes to keep them.

He shared some eye-opening data: only 0.05% to 0.2% of criminal proceeds are intercepted. That means over 99% of illicit funds slip through the cracks. Additionally, banks have paid a staggering $321 billion in fines since 2008 for compliance failures related to money laundering.

Armstrong didn’t hold back when discussing Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. He accused her of being involved in the de-banking of 30 tech and crypto founders. He said, “Can confirm this is true. It was one of the most unethical and un-American things that happened in the Biden administration, and my guess is we’ll find Elizabeth Warren’s fingerprints all over it (Biden himself was probably unaware).”