On Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase published its Digital Asset Policy Proposal, a document offering both a justification and conceptual framework for the comprehensive regulation of digital assets in the United States. Coinbase presented the proposal as a product of dozens of meetings with industry participants, policymakers, crypto innovators and academics that the company’s representatives had held in the last several weeks. The firm’s intention is for the proposal to “animate an open and constructive discussion regarding the role of digital assets in our shared economic future” and offer good-faith suggestions on what a sensible approach to crypto regulation might …
Powers On... is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches a course on “Blockchain, Crypto and Regulatory Considerations.” Well, well, well. It seems that some of those class-action law firms that ferret out possible securities claims in search of fees and recovery for investors, sometimes wrapped self-righteously in the flag of investor harm and rights, are properly receiving a cold shoulder …
A Coinbase shareholder has filed a securities class action against Coinbase for allegedly misleading investors ahead of its public listing about the company’s financial state and resilience as a crypto trading platform. Filed by law firm Scott + Scott in the California Northern District Court on Thursday, the class action names Coinbase shareholder Donald Ramsey as a plaintiff, both individually and on behalf of all other investors similarly situated. Ramsey is pursuing his claims under the United States Securities Act and has presented evidence drawn from Coinbase’s regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, company press releases, analyst …
Nikhil Wahi, who was arrested for allegedly working with his brother and an associate on a scheme to commit insider trading using crypto, has reportedly entered a guilty plea for wire fraud conspiracy charges. According to a Monday report from Reuters, Wahi admitted to authorities during a virtual hearing that he used confidential information obtained from Coinbase to make profits from trading crypto. Wahi’s brother Ishan worked as a product manager at Coinbase, during which time he allegedly shared information regarding the launch dates of tokens to his brother and an associate, Sameer Ramani. The trio allegedly used the insider …
Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has been sued by the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, alleging the firm falsely represented itself as an exchange due to failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer in the state. A 38-page petition filed by James in the New York Supreme Court on Feb. 22 alleged CoinEx “engaged in repeated and persistent fraudulent practices” and violated the state’s Martin Act — considered one of the most strict anti-fraud and securities regulation laws in the United States. She also asserted CoinEx listed various tokens that qualified as “both commodities and securities” naming Amp (AMP), …