San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has recently retracted a statement made a few days ago regarding obtaining approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list tokenized securities on its trading platform.
Last month, Coinbase claimed it would soon become a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and SEC-licensed investment advisor and broker dealer. Per Coinbase’s official announcement, the acquisitions of Keystone Capital, Digital Wealth, and the Venovate Marketplace were made in order to list crypto securities on its exchange.
Almost right after announcing that it had been approved by the SEC to list crypto securities on its exchange, Elliot Suthers, a Coinbase representative emailed Bloomberg stating:
“Being approved to take ownership of these licensed entities is one more step toward our ultimate goal of allowing our customers to trade securities tokens on our platform. There are many more steps and conversations needed with regulators before this journey’s complete.
SEC Approval “Not Required”
However, Coinbase’s vice president of communications Rachael Horwitz confirmed on July 18 that the US-based cryptocurrency exchange hasn’t yet been approved by the SEC to list tokenized securities. Horwitz clarified, stating:
“It is not correct to say that the SEC and FINRA approved Coinbase’s purchase of Keystone because SEC was not involved in the approval process,” adding the federal regulator’s approval was “not required for the change of control application.”
Horwitz further claimed the company “discussed aspects” of its future plans, including the acquisition of Keystone Capital, “on an informal basis” with the SEC. Notably, receiving approval to become a broker dealer would allow Coinbase to offer various types of financial services.
As CryptoGlobe reported, Coinbase is looking to add support for five cryptocurrencies: Basic Attention Token (BAT), Cardano (ADA), Stellar (XLM), Ox (ZRX), and Zcash (ZEC). While the exchange is aggressively trying to expand its operations, its competitor Circle has also been looking to obtain approval from the SEC to operate as a broker dealer, after acquiring Poloniex for $400 million.
