Law firm Bragar Eagel & Squire подала in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey a class action against the bitcoin exchange Coinbase. Another complaint поступила from Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP of San Diego.
According to the complaints, the platform made “false and misleading statements” about the nature of its activities. The plaintiffs allege that Coinbase offered investors cryptocurrency assets that should have been registered as securities.
The lawyers also cited a Bloomberg report о предполагаемом расследовании SEC regarding Coinbase. The alleged trigger was the possible provision to U.S. residents of access to trading digital assets that could be treated as securities.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced the arrest of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and two of his accomplices. They were charged with securities fraud involving insider trading.
The SEC filed charges against the suspects with similar claims and stressed that this involved securities fraud. The agency classified 9 of the 25 cryptocurrencies that the defendants allegedly used in their operations.
The CFTC criticized the regulator’s actions.
In August, Coinbase agreed to a collaboration with BlackRock. The latter’s clients will gain direct access to trading digital assets through BlackRock’s portfolio-management system Aladdin.
As reported, the aide to U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis told reporters that the SEC began examining every cryptocurrency exchange registered in the country. According to him, the Coinbase investigation is the tip of the iceberg.
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