Coinbase, the leading US-based cryptocurrency exchange, retracted the claims it made earlier this week in which they stated that they received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate with digital assets that are considered securities.
Coinbase announced in June that it was on the verge of becoming the first exchange to offer SEC-approved cryptocurrency securities. The official announcement read that the process was “being enabled by our acquisition of Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace, Inc., and Digital Wealth LLC.” However, it also clearly stated that this move was awaiting confirmation from the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
A month later after the initial announcement was made, the cryptocurrency exchange declared that it got the approbation to start its operations with crypto securities.
Elliot Suthers, the company’s spokesperson emailed the following statement to Bloomberg:
“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.”
In spite of Suthers’ mail, a Coinbase spokeswoman, Rachael Horwitz, made a statement on July 18 in which she took back the previous announcement. Horwitz explained that the exchange has in fact not received approval from the regulator.
“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.”
“The SEC’s approval is not required for the change of control application,” she continued. “Coinbase has discussed aspects of its proposed operations, including the acquisition of the Keystone Entity, on an informal basis with several members of SEC staff.”
It should be noted that if Coinbase manages to become a fully-registered and regulated exchange, this would significantly increase the number of services that it can offer.
The US exchange also revealed earlier this week that they were “exploring the addition” of five new crypto coins to its list, respectively ADA, BAT, XLM, Zcash, and 0x.
But Coinbase is not the only company that is looking to expand its service options. Its direct rival Circle has also stated that it plans on looking for registration as a trading platform with the SEC.