SEC brings charges against cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is charging Coinbase with operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. Coinbase was also charged for failing to register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program. Users of trading platforms can stake their cryptocurrency, essentially locking up some of their assets, in exchange for payment later, much like earning interest rates in a savings account. Those assets are used by platforms like Coinbase Global to guarantee other transactions taking place on the blockchain. Coinbase has been critical of regulations related to staking, calling them vague. The SEC complaint also alleges that Coinbase's holding company, Coinbase Global Inc., is a control person of Coinbase and therefore is also liable for some of Coinbase's violations.

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Shares of Coinbase Global tumbled nearly 17% before the market open on Tuesday. The SEC, which had warned Coinbase in March that it could face securities charges, says in its complaint that Coinbase has made billions of dollars unlawfully since at least 2019 by facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities. The agency claims Coinbase intertwines the traditional services of an exchange, broker, and clearing agency without having registered any of those functions with the commission, as required by law. «While