6

June

2023

SEC v. Coinbase, Inc. & Coinbase Global, Inc.

Description: The SEC charged Coinbase for failing to register with the SEC as a securities broker, exchange, or clearing agency despite allegedly operating a trading platform and providing staking services consisting of securities transactions. The SEC also charged Coinbase with operating as an unregistered securities broker in connection with providing Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Wallet services. On March 27, 2024 the judge issued an order dismissing the SEC’s allegations that Coinbase operates as an unregistered securities broker by providing its customers with access to the Coinbase Wallet. The judge’s March 27 order—which was a response to Coinbase’s motion for judgment on the pleadings (filed August 4, 2023)—denied all other requests included in Coinbase’s motion, finding that all other of the SEC’s allegations were sufficiently well pleaded.

The SEC's Complaint

Status: On March 4, 2025, the Appeals Court granted the parties’ joint stipulation for dismissal. The stipulation cited potential developments from Commissioner Uyeda’s Crypto Task Force and broader policy considerations underlying the SEC’s decision to drop the action. The Coinbase settlement marks a high-profile pause in the SEC’s aggressive enforcement push. It signals a potential shift in regulatory posture as the agency’s Crypto Task Force reassesses how cryptocurrencies fit within existing securities laws. Updated 03/04/2025

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Tom Momberg

+17186645458 tom.momberg@dlxlaw.com

Tom advises clients in an array of matters related to blockchain technology, decentralized finance, banking and payments systems, financial products, and financial technology applications. He joined DLx Law as an attorney after working as in-house counsel for a payments and banking software service provider, advising on various legal and regulatory matters, operations, risk, customer due diligence, and corporate best practices.

Tom received his J.D. from George Mason University Law School in Virginia and his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Tom is a former journalist, and, while in law school, he interned for DLx Law and served as a law clerk for several federal institutions in Washington, D.C., including the CFTC, FCC, and House Judiciary Committee. Tom is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and the State of Oregon.

Angela Angelovska-Wilson

+12023651448 angela@dlxlaw.com

Angela is an early distributed ledger technology adopter and a leading authority in the evolving global legal and regulatory landscape surrounding distributed ledger technology and smart contracts. Prior to co-founding DLx Law, Angela served as the Chief Legal & Compliance Officer of Digital Asset and was part of the founding team.

Prior to joining Digital Asset, Angela was a partner at Reed Smith where she regularly advised clients on the implementation of new technologies to finance and the complex regulatory schemes involved in the development, creation, marketing, sale and servicing of various financial services and products. Before Reed Smith, Angela spent most of her career in various roles at Latham & Watkins, where she was recognized by The Legal 500 US among the top finance attorneys in the U.S.

Angela has a deep understanding of the Fin-Tech industry and in particular the distributed ledger industry, having been involved in a number of startups in various roles, as an employee, entrepreneur and advisor. In addition to DLx Law, Angela is also co-founder of Sila Inc., an innovative technology company.