The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has filed a lawsuit against the New York-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase for offering unregistered securities.
Coinbase, according to the SEC lawsuit, has never registered as a broker, national securities exchange, or clearing agency, thereby circumventing the disclosure scheme for securities markets.
The SEC alleged that several tokens offered by the cryptocurrency exchange qualify as securities, including Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Filecoin (FIL), Sandbox SAND, Axie Infinity, Chiliz (CHZ), FLOW, ICP, NEAR, VGX, DASH, and NEXO.
In addition, the lawsuit claimed that Coinbase has been operating as an unregistered security broker since 2019, nearly two years before its initial public offering (IPO) in April 2021.
The lawsuit claimed that Coinbase’s staking program comprises five stackable crypto assets, making it an investment contract and, thus, a security.
Despite Kraken resolving with the SEC and winding down its staking services in the U.S., Coinbase was already engaged in a staking war with the SEC, claiming its staking products are not securities.
Gary Gensler, the head of the SEC, stated in response to the most recent Coinbase lawsuit that the cryptocurrency exchange purportedly deprived its customers of vital protections against fraud and manipulation and evaded proper disclosure and safeguards against conflicts of interest.
“As alleged in our complaint, Coinbase was fully aware of the applicability of the federal securities laws to its business activities, but deliberately refused to follow them,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.”As alleged in our complaint, Coinbase was fully aware of the applicability of the federal securities laws to its business activities, but deliberately refused to follow them,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
The share price of Coinbase fell 15% in pre-market trading on June 6 after the SEC announced its lawsuit.
The SEC lawsuit against Coinbase was filed just one day after the securities regulator filed suit against Binance for violating securities law and mixing customer funds.
While Binance was charged with 13 counts of securities law violations, the allegations against Coinbase have perplexed many in the cryptocurrency industry, as Coinbase is a publicly traded company.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao reacted to Coinbase’s litigation on Twitter and criticized the SEC.
Many in the cryptocurrency community questioned why Coinbase was permitted to go public in 2021 despite functioning as an unregistered broker.
A crypto influencer known on Twitter as The Wolf stated that the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase could also spare Binance.