SEC sues Coinbase, targets 13 cryptocurrencies

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing Coinbase, the largest US cryptocurrency exchange. The announcement was published this Tuesday (6), the day after the SEC sued Binance.

The Commission alleges that Coinbase operates an unregistered stock brokerage, and similarly cites the US brokerage’s staking program.

Despite the lawsuit being much lighter than the 13 lawsuits against Binance, Coinbase shares saw a major drop on Nasdaq.

SEC again lists several cryptocurrencies as securities

While the SEC listed 12 cryptocurrencies as securities in the Binance lawsuit, the same happened in the Coinbase lawsuit.

In addition to reiterating some cryptocurrencies, such as Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA), the SEC also named others traded on the US exchange. Are they:

• Solana (SUN)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Polygon (MATIC)
• File currency (FIL)
• Sandpit (SAND)
• Axie Infinity (AXS)
• Chile (CHZ)
• Current (CURRENT)
• Internet Computer Protocol (ICP)
• Near (NEAR)
• Voyager (VGX)
• Dash (DASH)
• Nexus (NEXUS)

The texts, explaining why they are securities, are the same as those in the lawsuit against Binance. Basically, the SEC claims that many projects have companies that have done pre-sales and are also working with Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

While Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in the market, bears many similarities to the projects listed as securities by the SEC, the Commission ignored this.

Coinbase’s Alleged Flaws Strip Investors of Critical ProtectionsSEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on Twitter. “Including rules to prevent fraud and manipulation, proper disclosure, safeguards against conflicts of interest, and routine SEC review.”

Already shaken, cryptocurrency market does not fall, but Coinbase shares collapse

While the SEC’s action against Coinbase is big, the cryptocurrency market has not fallen again. One of the reasons may have been the sharp drop on Monday (5).

Bitcoin is trading at $26,000 at the time of writing, showing a slight increase over the past hour. Other cryptocurrencies are following suit, including the cryptocurrencies mentioned in the lawsuit.

Those who suffered the most were Coinbase shareholders. While yesterday his shares fell 12% after his rival was sued, the fall continued on Tuesday (6). Between the two days, the low reached 27%, but already shows a small recovery.

Until the closing of this case, Coinbase had not publicly commented on the lawsuit.

Ultimately, the SEC is expected to continue to prosecute cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the US or otherwise allow their use by Americans. Binance and Coinbase are the two largest in the market and the Commission appears to be prosecuting them in order of magnitude.