Coinbase says it’ll keep operating as usual and is demanding the US create new oversight rules for the cryptocurrency industry.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is going after Coinbase for allegedly facilitating cryptocurrency transactions from millions of consumers while skirting federal oversight.
The SEC on Tuesday sued Coinbase over claims the cryptocurrency trading platform has been operating as a “unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.”
“Coinbase has for years defied the regulatory structures and evaded the disclosure requirements that Congress and the SEC have constructed for the protection of the national securities markets and investors,” the US regulator says in the court fiiling.
According to the SEC, Coinbase should have registered itself as a broker, national securities exchange, and clearing agency since it engages in all three activities through its cryptocurrency businesses. But the company has neglected to do so, denying investors financial protections, “including inspection by the SEC, recordkeeping requirements, and safeguards against conflicts of interest, among others,’ the SEC says.
