Coinbase's Compliance and Legal Battles: A Summary

The recent lawsuit against Coinbase by the SEC is not surprising, as U.S. regulators have been slow to respond to the explosion of cryptocurrencies and ICOs. The SEC is seeking a permanent injunction against Coinbase from operating an unlicensed exchange. This may lead to the rise of new exchanges that aren't carrying regulatory baggage. Crypto is not going anywhere, and startups will need to build a toehold in countries with substantial populations of English-speaking crypto users that don't ban ICOs and permit exchanges to trade spot crypto without regulating them as broker-dealers or clearing agencies.