Crypto, staking and wallet of Coinbase targeted by the regulator

The offensive of the SEC continues. It is now attacking Coinbase and its products Earn, Wallet and Prime. The authority reproaches theexchange crypto to violate the legislation on the titles.

The SEC has hit the gas pedal. In 2020, Ripple was almost an exception in the crypto industry. It’s not so isolated anymore. In addition to its action against Justin Sun and 8 celebrities this week, the securities regulator is taking aim at Coinbase.

The U.S. cryptocurrency exchange announces that it has received a ” Wells notice “of the SEC informing him of an ongoing proceeding. The investigation specifically addresses various aspects of Coinbase’s offering.

Tokens, staking, wallet… the main services targeted

Thus, the US regulator blames an “unspecified” part of the digital assets listed by the violations to the law on the securities.

A few months earlier, the SEC had already qualified tokens available on Coinbase as securities. The token listing policy of the firm is not the only problem for the financial police. Its investigations will also focus on the staking service Coinbase Earnas well as on Coinbase Wallet and Prime. What are the grievances?

The SEC staff told us that they have identified potential securities law violations, but little else. We asked the SEC to specifically identify assets on our platforms that they believe may be securities, but they declined to do so,” says Paul Grewal, the crypto player’s general counsel.

Coinbase asked for clarity and reasonable rules

Grewal doesn’t hide his annoyance, evident in the choice of title for his blog post. “We asked the SEC for reasonable crypto rules for Americans. Instead, we received legal threats”.

Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong have regularly called on authorities, and the SEC in particular, to provide more clarity to alleviate the legal uncertainty surrounding the crypto asset market.

Numerous meetings have taken place in recent months, however, and the dialogue was maintained, at least in one sense.

We met with the SEC more than 30 times in nine months, but we were the ones talking,” says Paul Grewal.

Coinbase determined to go to court if it has to

The legal director explains that a meeting was scheduled in January where the SEC was to react to Coinbase’s proposals. The authority finally canceled the meeting the day before and indicated “that it was going back to an enforcement investigation”.

In this tense climate, Coinbase says it is ready “to face this disappointing development”. It also says it is “confident” in the legality of its assets and services. Moreover, these, despite the Wells notice, will continue to operate normally.

Coinbase is committed, if necessary, to a legal process to provide the clarity we have advocated and to demonstrate that the SEC simply has not been fair or reasonable when it comes to its digital asset engagement.”

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