SEC Reveals Coinbase Listed Nine Crypto Assets That Are Securities

SEC reveals Coinbase listed nine crypto assets that are securities that were unregistered, in a complaint against a former employee who was accused of insider trading so let’s have a closer look at our latest Coinbase news.

The SEC reveals Coinbase listed nine crypto assets as unregistered securities and the nine assets are AMP, DerivaDEX, Rally, XYO, Rari Governance Token, Powerledger, LCX, DFX Finance, and Kromatika. The digital token or crypto asset is a crypto asset security if it only meets the definition of a security that the Securities Act defines to include an investment contract or if it consists of an investment of money in a common enterprise with an expectation of profit derived from the efforts of others as the SEC wrote in the complaint that was filed against a former Coinbase employee who was accused of insider trading.

1/ At Coinbase, we actively monitor for illegal activity and investigate any alleged misconduct. In April, we received information about possible frontrunning of assets shortly before being listed on Coinbase. We immediately launched an investigation into this.

— Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) July 21, 2022

The DOJ and SEC announced charges against former Coinbase Product Manager Ishan Wahi who was accused of running an insider trading scheme that earned him more than $1.1 million in illicit gains and Wahi tipped off his brother and a friend about an upcoming listing of a token on the exchange.  The SEC said in a press release:

“Ahead of those announcements, which usually resulted in an increase in the assets’ prices, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani allegedly purchased at least 25 crypto assets, at least nine of which were securities, and then typically sold them shortly after the announcements for a profit.”

The Commission said that the nine tokens contained hallmarks of the definition of security like continuing representations by users and management teams regarding the investment value of the token with efforts that contribute to the token’s value and the availability of secondary markets for the trading of the tokens. The SEC added:

“Thus, at all times relevant to the conduct alleged in this complaint, a reasonable investor in the nine crypto asset securities would continue to look to the efforts of the issuer and its promoters, including their future efforts, to increase the value of their investment.”

Coinbase said the company filed a petition with the SEC to improve the rulemaking on digital asset securities and said:

“Our petition calls on the SEC to develop a workable regulatory framework for digital asset securities guided by formal procedures and a public notice-and-comment process, rather than through arbitrary enforcement or guidance developed behind closed doors.”

It has been brought to our attention that our token $Krom is mentionned in a complaint for insider trading.

This complaint is towards an employee of Coinbase. We, Kromatika Finance, are not involved in this case, nor are our employees.

— Kromatika.Finance (@KromatikaFi) July 21, 2022

In the meantime, Kromatika finance responded to the allegations of insider trading:

“It has been brought to our attention that our token $Krom is mentioned in a complaint for insider trading. This complaint is towards an employee of Coinbase. We, Kromatika Finance, are not involved in this case, nor are our employees.”