Bloomberg: SEC opens investigation into Coinbase activity

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened an investigation into Coinbase Global over the possible provision of access to trading for digital assets that could be deemed securities for U.S. residents, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to them, the SEC has begun to scrutinize Coinbase more closely amid the exchange’s expansion of the number of tokens available for trading. 

Additionally, on July 21, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi. He was charged with fraud involving insider trading. The defendants also include Wahi’s brother and Samir Ramani.

According to investigators, they used confidential information about upcoming listings of digital assets on the exchange to execute profitable trades.

The SEC filed against the suspects a lawsuit with similar arguments and noted that it concerns securities fraud. The agency classified nine of the 25 cryptocurrencies that the defendants allegedly used in their transactions.

Coinbase stressed that securities are not traded on its platform.

Commissioner CFTC Caroline Pham says that the SEC’s designation of several tokens as securities in the Wahi case could have serious consequences for the entire industry.

In June, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse accused the SEC of using a heavy-handed approach rather than working toward clear regulation for the industry.

Representative Tom Emmer said the agency obstructs regulation of the cryptocurrency space and acts unethically toward its participants.

Earlier Bloomberg reported that the SEC was examining whether Binance’s BNB token was a security at the time of its sale in 2017. However, the Commission later refuted this information.

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