Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The crypto industry can finally close the chapter on a litany of scandals and problems after Binance was hit with a historic settlement by the U.S. Department of Justice, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Monday.
“The enforcement action against Binance, that’s allowing us to kind of turn the page on that and hopefully close that chapter of history,” Armstrong said in an interview with CNBC’s Joumanna Bercetche.
“There are many crypto companies that are helping build the crypto economy and change our financial system globally. But many of them are still small startups.”
“I think that regulatory clarity is going to help bring in more investment, especially from institutions,” he added.
Binance was hit by the U.S. Department of Justice with a $4 billion settlement last week, which saw its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, step down and plead guilty to charges of money laundering violations.
The government accused Binance of violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act and of breaching sanctions on Iran.
Armstrong pushed back on the suggestion that crypto is mainly used for nefarious purposes such as fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing, a common refrain from financial firms that have avoided jumping into the space due to compliance concerns.
“It’s true that there have been some small amount of illicit activity in crypto but it’s actually less than 1% from what we’ve seen. If you look at illicit uses of cash it’s oftentimes more than that,” Armstrong told CNBC.
Some players, he conceded, have been “bad actors,” referring to the case of Binance, as well as the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and the conviction of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried on charges of fraud.
Armstrong is in the U.K. Monday for the Global Investment Summit, which gathers a host of business leaders to encourage foreign investment in the U.K.
Coinbase was the only crypto company invited to the summit, which Armstrong termed an “endorsement” for the company, but not necessarily the broader industry.
Armstrong said that he is “impressed” with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s leadership when it comes to digital currencies and that Coinbase was investing more in the U.K. as a result.
The U.K. is seeking to bring digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins into the regulatory fold.
Coinbase is currently engaged in a tense legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that the company is violating securities laws with its platform.
On that point, Armstrong said he feels very good about Coinbase’s chances fighting the lawsuit. He also disputed the idea that the SEC’s actions have forced Coinbase to move offshore, adding that the company is still investing actively in its home market.
Correction: Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on charges of fraud. An earlier version misstated his status.
The Blue Ghost Mission Operations Engineer, Jaxon Liebeck, showcases the Blue Ghost moon lander at Firefly Aerospace headquarters on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024 in Cedar Park.
Firefly Aerospacepriced shares in its IPO at $45 on Wednesday, above its expected range.
The Texas-based rocket maker will debut on the Nasdaq Thursday under the ticker symbol “FLY.” The offering raised $868 million and values the company at about $6.3 billion.
Firefly filed its initial prospectus in July and upped its IPO range this week to $41 to $43 a share, from an initial range of $35 to $39.
The broader IPO landscape has also seen major public debuts this year from Figma, CoreWeave and Circle as the market for public offerings reopens following a prolonged drought.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he will impose a 100% tariff on imports of semiconductors and chips, but not for companies that are “building in the United States.”
The announcement of new sector-specific tariffs shows Trump ratcheting up his efforts to pressure businesses to manufacture their products in the U.S.
But specifics about the plan, such as how much U.S. manufacturing a company needs to do in order to qualify for the tariff exemption, were not immediately clear.
“We’re going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.
“But the good news for companies like Apple is if you’re building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge,” he said.
“So in other words, we’ll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors. But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge.”
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Trump had previously signaled that the duties on chips and semiconductors, which have become key components in virtually every industry, could come as soon as next week.
The remarks came after Trump touted a commitment by Apple to invest another $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, on top of the $500 billion the tech giant has previously pledged.
Several top chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor, Nvidia and GlobalFoundries, have already pledged to manufacture some of their products in the U.S.
They’re not alone: More than 130 projects in the U.S. totaling $600 billion dollars have been announced since 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip company, has pledged to invest a total of $165 billion in U.S. manufacturing.
Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, said in April that it plans to spend $500 billion on AI infrastructure in the U.S. over the next four years.
GlobalFoundries pledged $16 billion in June to expand its semiconductor manufacturing at facilities in New York and Vermont.
Also in June, Texas Instruments announced a $60 billion boost to seven chip fabs in the U.S. The company counts Apple, Ford, Medtronic, Nvidia and SpaceX as customers.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures, as they present Apple’s announcement of a $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stand in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that the iPhone maker will spend an additional $100 billion on U.S. companies and suppliers over the next four years.
The company said its investment would incentivize overseas companies to buy more U.S.-made parts. The commitment is on top of a $500 billion announcement that Apple made in February.
“This is the largest investment Apple has ever made in America and anywhere else,” Trump said. “As you know, Apple has been an investor in other countries a little bit, I won’t say which ones, but a couple, and they’re coming home.”
Trump said that he expects new U.S. factories to be built soon based on his policies.
“There are a lot of factories and a lot of plants that are either under construction or soon we’ll be starting construction,” Trump said. “So can’t tell you exactly when, but I want to be around a year from now.”
The company said it would spend $2.5 billion to fund a major expansion with Corning, which makes glass for iPhones in Kentucky. Apple said that all glass for iPhones and Apple Watches will be manufactured in the U.S. at Corning’s facility.
A gift given by Apple CEO Tim Cook to U.S. President Donald Trump stands on President Trump’s table, as they present Apple’s announcement of a $100 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 6, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
At the White House, Cook presented Trump with a souvenir based on Corning’s glass.
Apple also said it had a multiyear supply agreement with Coherent to produce lasers for the iPhone’s facial recognition system.
The company said its U.S.-based supply chain would produce more than 19 billion chips for its products this year. That’s including chips made by TSMC in Arizona, Apple said. It also includes U.S.-made wafers from GlobalWafers and chips from Texas Instruments.
Apple said it would collaborate with Texas Instruments to install additional tools in factories in Utah and Texas. GlobalFoundries, a U.S.-based foundry that manufactures older chips particularly for the U.S. government, will manufacture wireless charging technology in New York for Apple.
The iPhone maker said its goal was to have an “end-to-end” supply chain, which means that every part of the chipmaking process can take place on American soil.
“Oh, I love that you’re doing this,” Trump said after reading a list of Apple’s announcements.
“President Trump shared some kind words about that work, but he also asked us to think about what more we could commit to doing,” Cook said about Apple’s earlier initial $500 billion commitment. “Mr. President, we took that challenge very seriously.”
Trump has criticized Apple and Cook for not making its smartphones in the U.S., a move that Apple has never signaled that it is likely to make. Experts say that moving production of a high-volume, complicated electronics product like the iPhone to the U.S. would be economically infeasible and could take years.
When asked about the possibility of making the iPhone in the U.S. on Wednesday, Cook said that many of the parts inside the device were made in the U.S.
“If you look at the bulk of it, we’re doing a lot of the semiconductors here, we’re doing the glass here, we’re doing the face ID module here,” Cook said.
Not Apple’s first U.S. commitment
Apple has made similar announcements in the past. In 2018, under pressure during the first Trump administration, Apple committed to spend $350 billion in the U.S. over five years, or about $70 billion per year. In 2021, Apple announced plans to spend $430 billion over five years, or $86 billion per year in the U.S. Wednesday’s announcement has the company at $600 billion over four years, or $125 billion per year.
Much of what Apple has announced has come to fruition, although the company doesn’t report its U.S. spending on an annual basis and suppliers generally don’t break out how much revenue comes from Apple.
The company also faces increased tariffs that could hurt its profits. It’s currently paying for tariffs placed on Chinese imports earlier this year, and faces increased import taxes on semiconductors when the Trump Administration finishes a so-called Section 232 investigation.
Trump said on Wednesday that he planned to impose a 100% tariff on semiconductors and chips, but that Apple was exempt because it is committing to build in the U.S.
Apple in May said that the majority of phones it’s selling in the U.S. are assembled in India to avoid Chinese tariffs, and although tariffs on India are going up to 25%, White House sources told CNBC that the iPhone maker will be “largely unaffected” by the India tariffs. Apple said that tariffs could cost the company $1.1 billion in the current quarter.
In 2017, Apple announced that it was creating a $1 billion manufacturing fund, which would go towards future purchase commitments with U.S. suppliers. Apple raised that to $10 billion earlier this year. Corning, one of the participants in Wednesday’s announcement, previously got two publiccommitments from Apple’s manufacturing fund.
In 2021, Apple said that its U.S. spending was outpacing its initial 2018 announcement. In its initial announcement, the company said it would spend $10 billion on data centers in North Carolina, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona and Iowa. Apple operates data centers in all those states today.
Apple on Wednesday said it was expanding data centers in North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada and Oregon.