According to Bloomberg, the largest Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is under SEC investigation.
According to the news that cited two sources, The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating whether Coinbase is brokering the trade of digital assets that must be registered as securities.
Speaking to Reuters, a Coinbase spokesperson stated that they do not list securities on their platform, but said they are looking forward to meeting with the SEC.
Director Paul Grewal said: “This is a process the SEC has reviewed before. We are rigorous in this regard and are confident that our policies keep securities off our platform.”
Last week, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase former product manager Ishan Wahi for insider trading, describing some of the cryptocurrencies traded there as securities.
Which Altcoins Securities?
Unfortunately, this question is quite difficult to answer. Because the SEC has not set a standard for cryptocurrencies in this regard.
The SEC has been criticized for not making clear regulations about which cryptocurrencies are securities. In these uncertainty institutions, “which altcoin is a security?” makes it difficult to find the answer to the question.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said in a statement last week, Bitcoin is not a security and stated that it is a commodity, but underlined that many altcoins are in the status of securities.
SEC Chairman’s Is Ethereum a security? The fact that he could not answer the question as clearly as Bitcoin and left this question unanswered was also confusing.
Considering that many altcoins are also listed on the Coinbase exchange, it is considered that this investigation is highly likely to turn into a lawsuit in the future.