Regulation

Coinbase Is Facing a ‘Life or Death’ Battle With the SEC

Revenue at risk could be over 50%, Oppenheimer analyst says
Customers may be due restitution, ex-SEC official Stark says

WATCH: The Securities and Exchange Commission widened its sweeping crackdown on crypto by accusing Coinbase Global Inc. of running an illegal exchange. Sonali Basak reports.Source: Bloomberg

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By Michael P. Regan, Muyao Shen, and Yueqi Yang

June 6, 2023 at 10:13 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Coinbase Global Inc. knew all along that it could be courting trouble with regulators.

More than two years ago, when the crypto exchange filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to start publicly trading its shares, it said there was a “high degree of uncertainty” regarding the legality of its operations, warning that “regulators may disagree” with the company’s view that it wasn’t covered by their rules.