Crypto exchange Coinbase offered a fiery response on Thursday to last month’s Wells notice from the SEC, telling the federal regulator that an enforcement action against the crypto exchange would pose “major programmatic risks” to the SEC that would “fail on the merits.” “Coinbase does not list, clear, or effect trading in securities,” the company’s response said. The analysis SEC did staffers to justify an enforcement action “appears to rest on superficial and incorrect analogies to products and services offered by others,” Coinbase wrote in a blog post from chief legal officer Paul Grewal. Separately, Grewal told ... (full story)

In April 2021—two years ago this month—this Commission declared effective Coinbase Global, Inc.’s registration statement, allowing Coinbase’s shares to be sold to millions of investors the Commission is mission-bound to protect, including retail investors, mutual funds, and pension funds. The Commission did so after years of discussions with Coinbase and a months-long process of extensive review and comment on its registration statement. Those processes focused on all aspects of Coinbase’s business, including its listing and custodying of digital assets, provision of trading and staking services, self-custody wallet ... (full story)