Over the last year, Coinbase has reaped considerable benefits from pending U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, Coinbase is the custodian for 13 of the 19 spot crypto ETFs that have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
On the other hand, the SEC has filed a complaint against Coinbase, alleging that the exchange failed to register with the agency and featured many tokens that breached US securities rules.
Coinbase has moved to dismiss the litigation, questioning the SEC’s power to regulate cryptocurrency.
Coinbase, which was founded in 2012, has long promoted itself as the “good guy” of cryptocurrency, courting US regulators and rejecting the urge to offer fad cryptocurrencies that regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission consider unregistered securities.
Zhao, who previously worked as a programmer for the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Bloomberg Trading, created Binance in 2017 and quickly eroded Coinbase’s brief market dominance following the collapse of Mt. Gox, once the go-to exchange for trading Bitcoin.
With an undisclosed headquarters and a willingness to skirt regulatory restrictions, Zhao quickly built Binance into a crypto titan that took over both the simple purchase and sale of digital currencies as well as the market for more intricate financial instruments built on top of crypto prices, according to most measures.
Brian Armstrong reacts to Binance’s demise
Armstrong’s remarks and Coinbase’s stock price rise come as the enforcement action against Binance, which required CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to stand down and plead guilty to U.S. criminal charges, creates an opportunity for Armstrong’s firm to acquire market dominance. He adds that:
Zhao’s exchange has seen its market share decline as a result of the continuing disputes.
Coinbase, on the other hand, is not immune to legal challenges. The SEC sued Armstrong’s exchange one day after suing Zhao and Binance, and the case is still ongoing. He told CNBC that:
As Coinbase takes hold of the crypto market. CZ remains in grave uncertainties in the United States.
As with FTX, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission continues to investigate evidence that Binance.US and CZ may have had a backdoor through which they could potentially control customer assets.
Attorneys for Binance.US reportedly argued in federal court on November 27 that the securities regulator lacks evidence of asset misuse and asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui to consider terminating the regulator’s investigation into possible fraud.
Attorney for Binance.US Matthew Laroche also cited the escalating expenses of the lawsuit, noting that since the SEC filed the lawsuit, Binance.US’s assets have decreased by nearly 90%, and its user base has halved.
