Cryptocurrencies
Coinbase Drops Crypto Lending Program Plans After SEC Balks
- Company faced threat by agency to sue if it pursued plan
- SEC has taken a tougher line on crypto under Gary Gensler
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Coinbase Global Inc. is bowing to pressure from U.S. regulators and tabling plans to launch a product that would pay users interest for lending out their tokens.
The decision to shelve its Lend product, which the company announced quietly in an update to an old blog post at 5 p.m. on Friday, comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission threatened to sue the firm if it moved ahead. It also represents a dramatic reversal for Coinbase, whose top executives made its skirmish with the SEC public in defiant posts on social media on Sept. 7.