Coinbase
COIN,
CEO Brian Armstrong, and others from the team at Coinbase shared their views regarding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Wells Notice a day earlier, in a Twitter space hosted on Coinbase’s account on Thursday evening.
“We didn’t think this was unexpected, actually,” said Armstrong, who added that Coinbase has had over 30 meetings over the last 9 months with the SEC and spent millions in legal fees. “Coinbase has always taken a compliance-first approach…we want there to be a bridge between fiat and crypto.”
While there were about 13,000 listeners on Thursday night, the forum didn’t allow for questions.
On Wednesday, Coinbase, a popular crypto exchange, said it was hit with a Wells Notice by the SEC, identifying potential violations of securities law that might spur it to take legal action.
Armstrong characterized the Wells Notice as disappointing outcome to over 30 meetings the company has with the SEC over the last 9 months. “We’ve been asking for them to publish clear rules….current laws are not clear,” he added.
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase, said Coinbase will continue operating as usual.
“The Wells Notice we received yesterday isn’t going to change that,” he said. “And the reason […] I can say that with confidence is that Coinbase doesn’t list securities on our platform.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Grewal argued that the Wells Notice doesn’t give enough information for the exchange to respond to.
“I think it is easy to look at the situation right now and conclude that the SEC is trying to change the game,” said Grewal in the Twitter space. “What’s actually happening is they’re trying to cancel the game after its been played.”
After the news Wednesday of the Wells Notice, Coinbase stock dropped 16%, according to FactSet. COIN
COIN,
is currently trading at $66.30, down 14.05% in the last 24 hours.
