Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Coinbase has finally got the green light from regulators to list and offer the trading of crypto assets.
A Cryptocurrency Game Changer: Coinbase Gets Regulatory Approval
Seeing Coinbase list SEC-regulate crypto securities has been a topic of discussion in this nascent space for months now. In blog post from early June, Asiff Hirji, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Coinbase, wrote about the exchange’s “path” towards offering crypto securities support. He wrote:
“Today, we’re announcing that Coinbase is on track to operate a regulated broker-dealer, pending approval by federal authorities. If approved, Coinbase will soon be capable of offering blockchain-based securities, under the oversight of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)… This is all being enabled by our acquisition of Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace, Inc., and Digital Wealth LLC.”
But with yesterday’s announcement, Coinbase has finally received the green light from regulators, in the form of approval from the U.S. SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
A Coinbase spokesperson told Bloomberg that with this sign of approval, the American exchange will now be able to acquire the three aforementioned companies.
The acquisitions of these fintech-related firms will allow for the platform to facilitate a variety of cryptocurrency-related services for crypto securities, which have become increasingly prevalent. With the purchase of these three companies, Coinbase can now be classified as the first cryptocurrency-related company holding the status of a broker-dealer, an alternative trading system, and a registered investment advisor all at once.
The new licenses given to the exchange will allow Coinbase to allow its’ customers to eventually trade for tokenized securities, ICOs, along with also permitting the firm to offer margin and over-the-counter services.
The spokesperson for the cryptocurrency firm also noted that Coinbase will begin to implement its proprietary technology into newly-formed subsidiaries, but did not give details on the timeline of this move.
Coinbase On Track For Rapid Development
Despite being met with mixed criticisms over the past months, namely the high-fees of the exchange and the apparent lack of customer support, Coinbase is still set to experience rapid development and growth.
This most recent announcement, coupled with the potential additions of five altcoins to the Coinbase ecosystem indicate that Coinbase is ready for an expansion. Although new cryptocurrencies are welcomed, with Coinbase coin listings often signaling an increase in retail interest, these acquisitions have the potential to have a much larger impact on the cryptocurrency space as a whole.
If done correctly, Coinbase could begin to become a one-stop shop for cryptocurrency investors, offering services that may be all that the said investor needs, whether arriving from Main Street Or Wall Street.
As Coinbase’s mission statement states, “our mission is to create an open financial system for the world. An open financial system is one that is not controlled by any one country or company (just like the internet did for distributing information).”
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