In its lawsuit filing in early June, SEC charged Coinbase with “operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.” It also argued that the crypto exchange failed to “register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the Financial Times that they could have avoided going to court if they had accepted the recommendation from SEC to trade only in Bitcoin.

“They came back to us, and they said . . . we believe every asset other than bitcoin is a security,” Armstrong told the media outlet. “ … We really didn’t have a choice at that point, delisting every asset other than bitcoin, which by the way is not what the law says, would have essentially meant the end of the crypto industry in the US.”

When Reuters reached out to Coinbase for further comments, the company’s spokesperson clarified that SEC didn’t make a formal request to delist all tokens besides Bitcoin. Instead, it was more of a recommendation and stance brought forward by individual SEC staffers.

The post SEC Asked Coinbase to Delist All Cryptocurrencies Except Bitcoin Before the Lawsuit appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Coinbase disclosed that they had received a Wells notice from SEC. The Wells notice is sent to companies and individuals “at the conclusion of an SEC investigation that states the SEC is planning to bring an enforcement action against them. “SEC has sent the same notice to several other crypto companies in recent weeks while performing other enforcement actions related to the crypto market.

Coinbase addressed the Wells notice in a blog post, saying that it plans to challenge SEC’s actions and believes it did nothing wrong.

“We are confident in the legality of our assets and services, and if needed, we welcome a legal process to provide the clarity we have been advocating for and to demonstrate that the SEC simply has not been fair or reasonable when it comes to its engagement on digital assets,” the company stated.

Before the recent dip, Coinbase shares have been 130 percent up year-to-date. However, this is still close to 60 percent down compared to the same period in 2022. 

The post Coinbase Stock Plunges After SEC Warning appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to emailed transaction report seen by CoinDesk, Ark Invest bought more than 350,000 Coinbase shares, spending $20.6 million on the acquisition. This represented the biggest single-day investment in the crypto exchange Ark Invest made in 2023. Back in January, it obtained 333,637 shares in one purchase.

The investment management firm split the spending spree between its ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund (301,437 shares) and Next Generation Internet exchange-traded fund (52,525 shares)

With the latest purchase, Ark Invest has 9.9 million Coinbase shares, which are valued at $529.05 million based on Friday’s closing price. This means that the company now owns close to 4% of the U.S.-based crypto exchange. This is in line with Wood’s bullish stance on crypto and belief that Bitcoin is heading to the $1 million mark at some point in the future.

Coinbase stock saw an 8% slide on Friday alone, bringing its value to $53.44 per share. However, this still represents a 59.05% year-to-date jump.

The post Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Buys $20.6 Million-Worth Coinbase Shares appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to Armstrong, the company is focused on doing what it does best and not getting distracted by sudden changes in the crypto market.

“We have this saying internally, I like to repeat a lot, which is you know, it’s never as good as it seems, it’s never as bad as it seems,” Armstrong explained. “I think one of the reasons Coinbase has been so successful in the last 10 years is we just we try not to get focused on short-term ups and downs.”

All major cryptocurrencies have been going through a rough period in recent months. Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,504.80, which represents a 54.95% drop year-to-date. Ethereum is 55.82% down year-to-date and is currently trading at $1,664.51 per coin.

This slide has been particularly hard for crypto exchanges, and Coinbase was dealt a big blow since the start of the year, seeing its stock slump 71.53%. As a result, the company has been trying to find ways to cut costs, including laying off 1,100 workers.

Reduced costs still remain a theme at Coinbase, according to Armstrong, but shouldn’t come at the expense of the employees. Instead, the company aims to cut its cost in areas of “marketing, external vendors, and Amazon Web Services.”

“I can’t tell you what the world’s going to be like a year from now,” added Armstrong, hinting that the safety of jobs in his company is just temporary.

The post Coinbase CEO Says They “Try Not to Get Focused on Short-Term Ups and Downs” appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Between the crypto market crash, layoffs, and inflation, Coinbase went through some hard times in recent months. The company’s stock slid to an all-time low of $52.93 in late July, and it appeared the road to recovery will be hard and long.

However, Coinbase shares have been on an upward trajectory since the start of the week. At one point, shortly after the partnership with BlackRock was announced, the stock jumped to $106.25, its highest since early May. It went on to return to Earth later in the day but still remains 60% up in the past month.

Based in New York City, BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world. According to reports, the firm had $10 trillion in assets under management at the beginning of 2022. Its investment portfolio is diverse and involves numerous high-profile public companies. For example, BlackRock is among the biggest shareholders of Apple, owning 6.34% shares of the iPhone maker, while also having sizeable stakes in financial institutions like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

The post Coinbase Stock Soars 15% After Partnership With BlackRock appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Sending a note to clients on Monday, Goldman Sachs analyst Will Nance said that his price target on COIN dropped from $70 to $45.

“We believe current crypto asset levels and trading volumes imply further degradation in COIN’s revenue base,” Nance wrote.

Coinbase recently made a series of moves in an attempt to cut the costs amid the crypto market crisis. This included laying off 18 percent of employees and withdrawing job offers made in the past month. However, Nance believes this isn’t enough.

“We believe COIN will need to make substantial reductions in its cost base in order to stem the resulting cash burn as retail trading activity dries up,” he added.

Coinbase stock lost close to 80 percent in value in the past six months. It closed at $57.08 on Monday, compared to the $357.39 peak in late 2021.

In the same note, Goldman upgraded Robinhood stock from Sell to Neutral. This came two months after the stock was initially downgraded.

The post Goldman Downgrades Coinbase Stock from Neutral to Sell appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to reports, laid-off employees were first taken off Coinbase systems before being notified about the change in their status through personal emails. The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong later detailed the decision on social media, saying that the company “grew quite quickly over the past two years and have begun to operate less efficiently at our new size.”

“It will take us some time to adjust to this new scale before growing again,” Armstrong added.

The decision to lower the number of employees comes after Coinbase recently paused new hiring in the wake of a recent crypto market meltdown. The exchange previously aggressively recruited new employees and lured them from top tech companies with a significant pay rise. However, most were recently notified that their contracts are being canceled.

Coinbase recently also had to deal with an anonymous petition that circled among its employees. The petition called for changes in management due to missteps in recent months. 

The post Coinbase Announces Decision to Lay Off 1,100 Employees appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In its lawsuit filing in early June, SEC charged Coinbase with “operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.” It also argued that the crypto exchange failed to “register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the Financial Times that they could have avoided going to court if they had accepted the recommendation from SEC to trade only in Bitcoin.

“They came back to us, and they said . . . we believe every asset other than bitcoin is a security,” Armstrong told the media outlet. “ … We really didn’t have a choice at that point, delisting every asset other than bitcoin, which by the way is not what the law says, would have essentially meant the end of the crypto industry in the US.”

When Reuters reached out to Coinbase for further comments, the company’s spokesperson clarified that SEC didn’t make a formal request to delist all tokens besides Bitcoin. Instead, it was more of a recommendation and stance brought forward by individual SEC staffers.

The post SEC Asked Coinbase to Delist All Cryptocurrencies Except Bitcoin Before the Lawsuit appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Coinbase disclosed that they had received a Wells notice from SEC. The Wells notice is sent to companies and individuals “at the conclusion of an SEC investigation that states the SEC is planning to bring an enforcement action against them. “SEC has sent the same notice to several other crypto companies in recent weeks while performing other enforcement actions related to the crypto market.

Coinbase addressed the Wells notice in a blog post, saying that it plans to challenge SEC’s actions and believes it did nothing wrong.

“We are confident in the legality of our assets and services, and if needed, we welcome a legal process to provide the clarity we have been advocating for and to demonstrate that the SEC simply has not been fair or reasonable when it comes to its engagement on digital assets,” the company stated.

Before the recent dip, Coinbase shares have been 130 percent up year-to-date. However, this is still close to 60 percent down compared to the same period in 2022. 

The post Coinbase Stock Plunges After SEC Warning appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to emailed transaction report seen by CoinDesk, Ark Invest bought more than 350,000 Coinbase shares, spending $20.6 million on the acquisition. This represented the biggest single-day investment in the crypto exchange Ark Invest made in 2023. Back in January, it obtained 333,637 shares in one purchase.

The investment management firm split the spending spree between its ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund (301,437 shares) and Next Generation Internet exchange-traded fund (52,525 shares)

With the latest purchase, Ark Invest has 9.9 million Coinbase shares, which are valued at $529.05 million based on Friday’s closing price. This means that the company now owns close to 4% of the U.S.-based crypto exchange. This is in line with Wood’s bullish stance on crypto and belief that Bitcoin is heading to the $1 million mark at some point in the future.

Coinbase stock saw an 8% slide on Friday alone, bringing its value to $53.44 per share. However, this still represents a 59.05% year-to-date jump.

The post Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Buys $20.6 Million-Worth Coinbase Shares appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to Armstrong, the company is focused on doing what it does best and not getting distracted by sudden changes in the crypto market.

“We have this saying internally, I like to repeat a lot, which is you know, it’s never as good as it seems, it’s never as bad as it seems,” Armstrong explained. “I think one of the reasons Coinbase has been so successful in the last 10 years is we just we try not to get focused on short-term ups and downs.”

All major cryptocurrencies have been going through a rough period in recent months. Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,504.80, which represents a 54.95% drop year-to-date. Ethereum is 55.82% down year-to-date and is currently trading at $1,664.51 per coin.

This slide has been particularly hard for crypto exchanges, and Coinbase was dealt a big blow since the start of the year, seeing its stock slump 71.53%. As a result, the company has been trying to find ways to cut costs, including laying off 1,100 workers.

Reduced costs still remain a theme at Coinbase, according to Armstrong, but shouldn’t come at the expense of the employees. Instead, the company aims to cut its cost in areas of “marketing, external vendors, and Amazon Web Services.”

“I can’t tell you what the world’s going to be like a year from now,” added Armstrong, hinting that the safety of jobs in his company is just temporary.

The post Coinbase CEO Says They “Try Not to Get Focused on Short-Term Ups and Downs” appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Between the crypto market crash, layoffs, and inflation, Coinbase went through some hard times in recent months. The company’s stock slid to an all-time low of $52.93 in late July, and it appeared the road to recovery will be hard and long.

However, Coinbase shares have been on an upward trajectory since the start of the week. At one point, shortly after the partnership with BlackRock was announced, the stock jumped to $106.25, its highest since early May. It went on to return to Earth later in the day but still remains 60% up in the past month.

Based in New York City, BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world. According to reports, the firm had $10 trillion in assets under management at the beginning of 2022. Its investment portfolio is diverse and involves numerous high-profile public companies. For example, BlackRock is among the biggest shareholders of Apple, owning 6.34% shares of the iPhone maker, while also having sizeable stakes in financial institutions like Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

The post Coinbase Stock Soars 15% After Partnership With BlackRock appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Sending a note to clients on Monday, Goldman Sachs analyst Will Nance said that his price target on COIN dropped from $70 to $45.

“We believe current crypto asset levels and trading volumes imply further degradation in COIN’s revenue base,” Nance wrote.

Coinbase recently made a series of moves in an attempt to cut the costs amid the crypto market crisis. This included laying off 18 percent of employees and withdrawing job offers made in the past month. However, Nance believes this isn’t enough.

“We believe COIN will need to make substantial reductions in its cost base in order to stem the resulting cash burn as retail trading activity dries up,” he added.

Coinbase stock lost close to 80 percent in value in the past six months. It closed at $57.08 on Monday, compared to the $357.39 peak in late 2021.

In the same note, Goldman upgraded Robinhood stock from Sell to Neutral. This came two months after the stock was initially downgraded.

The post Goldman Downgrades Coinbase Stock from Neutral to Sell appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to reports, laid-off employees were first taken off Coinbase systems before being notified about the change in their status through personal emails. The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong later detailed the decision on social media, saying that the company “grew quite quickly over the past two years and have begun to operate less efficiently at our new size.”

“It will take us some time to adjust to this new scale before growing again,” Armstrong added.

The decision to lower the number of employees comes after Coinbase recently paused new hiring in the wake of a recent crypto market meltdown. The exchange previously aggressively recruited new employees and lured them from top tech companies with a significant pay rise. However, most were recently notified that their contracts are being canceled.

Coinbase recently also had to deal with an anonymous petition that circled among its employees. The petition called for changes in management due to missteps in recent months. 

The post Coinbase Announces Decision to Lay Off 1,100 Employees appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.