Coinbase

Coinbase appeals SEC rulemaking petition denial as promised

Coinbase filed an appeal the same day its petition for a rulemaking on crypto used as a security was denied.

Coinbase is continuing its efforts to ensure adequate legislation on cryptocurrency used as securities. After the United States Securities and Exchange Commission denied Coinbase’s petition for rulemaking on cryptocurrency on Dec. 15, the crypto exchange appealed the decision on the same day.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal promised immediate action as soon as the SEC’s denial became known. On Dec. 18, the U.S. Third District Court of Appeals ordered the SEC to file the record of its decision by Jan. 24, 2024.

In its appeal, Coinbase documented the lengthy process that was necessary to compel the SEC to respond to its petition. It called the SEC’s denial of its petition “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.” In addition:

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Ripple, Coinbase, a16z invest $78M in pro-crypto PAC ahead of US elections

Prominent cryptocurrency companies and investors intend to support pro-cryptocurrency candidates during the 2024 U.S. election cycle.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has publicly announced the company’s intent to support “pro-crypto” candidates during the 2024 United States election season. The company is among a group to have pledged a total of $78 million to support the Fairshake political action committee (PAC).

Fairshake announced that prominent industry firms and players had contributed to a significant “war chest” to back candidates who support American crypto and blockchain innovation and responsible regulation in the upcoming 2024 elections.

The list of contributors includes Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Circle, Coinbase, Kraken, Messari and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

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SEC accused of ‘gaslighting’ in Coinbase rulemaking dispute

Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton said that the SEC’s stance in the Coinbase rulemaking dispute directly opposes the SEC chair’s statements during his congressional testimony earlier in 2023.

In the ongoing legal dispute between Coinbase and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton accused SEC Chair Gary Gensler of gaslighting the public and disagreed with his stance on cryptocurrencies.

The accusation comes amid the SEC rejecting Coinbase’s crypto rulemaking petition for three reasons: applying current securities laws to cryptocurrencies, the SEC’s engagement with the crypto securities markets through rulemaking, and the significance of preserving the commission’s discretion in establishing its rulemaking priorities.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Deaton emphasized Gensler’s statement outlining the reasons for the SEC’s decision, where the SEC chair states, “there is NOTHING unique or new about cryptocurrencies.” Gensler added that Coinbase’s rulemaking request relies on the belief in the distinctiveness of the crypto ecosystem concerning asset volatility and the categorization of all assets as securities under current laws.

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Crypto Biz: Worldcoin expands, Saudi Aramco considers digital assets, and more

Traditional financial firms are increasingly connecting services, portfolios and operations with digital assets.

Traditional financial firms are increasingly connecting services, portfolios and operations with digital assets, taking advantage of the crypto winter to build and find a market fit for crypto-related solutions.

Recent examples include Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm, DWS, which announced a new venture with Galaxy Digital and Flow Traders to jointly issue a euro-denominated stablecoin. In another development, oil company Saudi Aramco signed an agreement with financial services firm SBI Holdings about a possible collaboration on digital assets and co-investment in SBI’s digital asset portfolios.

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, pension fund M&G has invested $20 million in the country’s first regulated Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives exchange, Global Futures & Options Holdings.

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SEC responds predictably to Coinbase’s 2022 crypto rulemaking petition: No

The existing laws are sufficient, according to Chair Gensler. Coinbase says it’s not done yet.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has denied a Coinbase petition for rulemaking on transactions with cryptocurrencies that are securities. Coinbase filed the petition in July 2022 and pushed steadily for a response.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced the commission’s decision in a Dec. 15 statement. He gave three reasons for denying Coinbase’s petition, which requested “rules to govern the regulation of securities that are offered and traded via digitally native methods, including potential rules to identify which digital assets are securities.”

Gensler first argued that existing laws and regulations already apply to crypto. His phrasing was nuanced:

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Coinbase introduces spot crypto trading for institutional investors outside US

Institutional clients on the Coinbase International Exchange will be able to trade Bitcoin and Ether against USD Coin starting on Dec. 14.

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that institutional investors on its international exchange can access spot crypto trading services.

In a Dec. 13 announcement, Coinbase said institutional clients based outside the U.S. will be able to trade Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) against USD Coin (USDC). The exchange said the services would launch on Dec. 14 and later expand to include retail investors, additional tokens and “features that enable new trading strategies and enhance capital efficiency.”

“We recognize the hesitancy among some asset issuers and members of the crypto community to engage with U.S. exchanges due to the evolving and uncertain regulatory landscape in the United States,” said Coinbase.

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Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam sells $13M in COIN shares as ARK continues to divest

Major Coinbase shareholders have sold over $14 million of stocks over the past 48 hours.

According to public trading data, Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and ARK Invest have sold more than $14 million of Coinbase shares over the past 48 hours.

Information shared by Insider Tracker, a service that shares trading information of high-profile company executives and politicians, shows that Ehrsam sold 97.836 COIN shares for $13.2 million on Dec. 11.

Meanwhile, ARK Invest’s daily trade information newsletter, which provides updates on its actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), showed that its ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) had offloaded some 10,933 COIN shares valued at around $1.5 million.

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Kazakhstan blocked 980 unlicensed crypto exchanges in 2023

The Financial Monitoring Agency has also launched nine investigations into “illegal exchange operations” and money laundering.

In 2023, Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) blocked access to almost a thousand crypto exchanges serving the country’s citizens without proper registration. 

According to a Dec. 7 press release published on the government’s website, the FMA denied access to 980 illegal platforms in 2023. It also launched nine investigations into “illegal exchange operations” and money laundering. This information was revealed by the chairman of the FMA, Ruslan Ostroumov, during the meeting of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering in China.

Related: Kazakhstan officially launches digital tenge

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Cathie Wood’s ARK dumps 237K Coinbase shares at $140

The latest Coinbase sale by ARK is one of its largest daily sales in 2023, third only to two massive sales in July.

ARK Invest, one of the firms hoping to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2024, is continuing to rake in the profits made from its large stash of Coinbase stock.

On Dec. 5, ARK dumped as many as 237,572 Coinbase shares from its three funds, according to a trade notification seen by Cointelegraph. The sale came on the day the Coinbase stock closed at $140 per share, netting at least $33 million.

The trading firm offloaded 201,711 Coinbase shares from the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) alone, with an additional 28,535 and 7,326 being sold by the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), respectively.

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Coinbase market share grows outside US trading hours amid Binance saga: Report

According to Kaiko Research, Bybit experienced a rise in market share around the clock, whereas Coinbase witnessed significant growth outside of the United States trading hours.

Following cryptocurrency exchange Binance reaching a substantial multi-billion-dollar settlement with United States regulators last week, an on-chain data analytics firm reported a surge in Coinbase’s market share.

On November 21, Binance and the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) reached a settlement of $4.3 billion, settling allegations related to anti-money laundering.

However, the legal challenges have led to other crypto exchanges seeing an increase in market share, according to research firm Kaiko Research.

The firm recently published a report that indicates that Coinbase has seen an uptick in its trading volume, during the European trading day, outside the regular United States trading hours:

“Coinbase’s share grew the most outside of U.S. trading hours (14-22 UTC), instead surging in the middle of the trading day in Europe and the beginning of the trading day in eastern Asia.”

Meanwhile, Bybit is reportedly seeing significant changes across the entire day.

“Bybit is the immediate standout winner, gaining market share in every single hour and growing by more than 20% in 16 out of 24 hours,” the report stated.

Percentage change in BTC market share.

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