US San Francisco based crypto exchange Coinbase have received a Wells notice from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC), which is recommending that the regulator may take enforcement action by suing the exchange. Coinbase Founder Brian Armstrong shard the tweet below Wednesday evening.
Coinbase has said In an article in Cointelegraph that the potential legal threat could target a number of its services, including its staking program, Coinbase Earn, its listed digital assets, its wallet, or Coinbase Prime services.
The notice is a warning to the company that the SEC may take enforcement action against them for possible violations of securities laws. Coinbase has claimed that none of its listed assets are considered securities, and any targeting of its wallet is based on a misunderstanding by SEC officials.
On March 22nd Coinbase released a blog post, saying the they have had contact with the SEC but are still waiting for answers
“We asked the SEC specifically to identify which assets on our platforms they believe may be securities, and they declined to do so,” said Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal. “
Today’s Wells notice also comes after Coinbase provided multiple proposals to the SEC about registration over the course of months, all of which the SEC ultimately refused to respond too