"SEC Prevails in Lawsuit Against Coinbase, Case to Continue"

A judge ruled in favor of the SEC in its lawsuit against Coinbase, allowing the claim that the cryptocurrency exchange engaged in unregistered sales of securities to proceed to trial. Coinbase's shares fell following the ruling, which rejected its attempt to dismiss the SEC's complaint. The judge agreed with the SEC's allegation that Coinbase's Staking Program involved unregistered securities, but dismissed the claim that the company acted as an unregistered broker through its Wallet application. Coinbase responded by expressing readiness to uncover more about the SEC's internal views on crypto regulation. This development comes as Coinbase plays a larger role in Wall Street's adoption of cryptocurrency, with the SEC recently approving U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, many of which have partnered with Coinbase as their custody partner.