SEC Keeps Heat on Coinbase Amid User Base Scrutiny

The SEC isn't letting up on Coinbase, even with Trump's recent crypto-friendly moves. The New York Times spilled the beans, revealing that the SEC is diving deep into Coinbase's past claims about its massive user base.

Insiders tell us the SEC's laser-focused on Coinbase's bold claim of over 100 million "verified users," a number that was front and center in their 2021 IPO filing. Yeah, the one that got everyone hyped.

User Number Drama

The regulators are sweating over whether that figure was a total stretch, possibly pulling the wool over investors' eyes. Coinbase quietly dropped the metric in 2023, admitting they might've counted some folks more than once. Oops!

Coinbase, teaming up with law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, insists the probe started under Biden and should've been wrapped up by now.

Their chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, slammed it as "a holdover investigation" and pointed out they ditched the metric over two years back, as reported by the NYT.

Despite the new crypto-friendly SEC Chair Paul Atkins dropping a bunch of cases, including a massive lawsuit against Coinbase last year, this probe keeps chugging along.

And guess what? This investigation comes right as Coinbase is flexing its muscles in the big leagues. They just scored a spot in the S&P 500, and CEO Brian Armstrong is practically a regular in Washington now.

Just last month, Armstrong was rubbing elbows at a White House crypto summit, sitting just a few seats from President Trump himself. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows—Coinbase also had to fess up to a data breach this week that could hit them for up to $400 million, according to an SEC filing.