​Coinbase refuses to delist the tokens mentioned in the SEC’s lawsuit

What’s new? The CEO of US crypto exchange Coinbase Brian Armstrong said that the company has no plans to refuse to provide staking services and will not delist cryptocurrencies listed as securities in the lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Axios’ reporters reported this after speaking with Armstrong on the sidelines of the Piper Sandler Global Exchange and Fintech Conference.

Material on the Axios website

What else is known? Armstrong also added that Coinbase does periodically delist a number of assets, but that it does so as part of the normal process associated with complying with listing standards on the platform. Those listed in the SEC lawsuit will still be available for trading.

“We’re going to continue to operate business as usual, and those assets are going to continue to trade until the court makes a determination.”

What events preceded it? On June 6, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase for offering unregistered securities. The regulator also claimed that the platform had never registered as a broker, national securities exchange, or clearing agency. The SEC has qualified as securities several PoS tokens offered by the exchange, including SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, SAND, AXS, CHZ, FLOW, ICP, NEAR, VGX, DASH, and NEXO. A day earlier, a similar lawsuit was filed against Binance. That said, on June 8, the US arm, Binance.US, announced the delisting of ten assets and the termination of OTC trading.

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In an interview with Bloomberg, Armstrong expressed confidence that the exchange would win the case in court and stressed that Coinbase has more than $5 billion on its balance sheet to support ongoing operations and cover legal costs.

As of June 8, Coinbase (COIN) shares are trading at $53,26 on the Nasdaq stock exchange, having gained 3,2% overnight, according to TradingView.

In February, the US crypto exchange Kraken stopped providing staking services in the United States under the SEC’s ruling. At the time, Armstrong noted that Coinbase was ready to defend its own staking service in court. The exchange also sought a court order from the regulator to announce rules for the crypto industry, but officials responded that forming the regulatory framework will take time. Coinbase interpreted this response as the SEC’s intention to continue its approach to regulating the industry through enforcement actions and fines.