SEC sues Coinbase, says crypto exchange never registered as a broker

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Inc., accusing it of operating as an unregistered broker.

In the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the SEC said that since at least 2019 Coinbase has pocketed billions of dollars by collecting transaction fees from investors without the disclosures and protections of registration, exposing its customers to risk. 

Because of its failure to register, Coinbase "has for years defied the regulatory structures and evaded the disclosure requirements that Congress and the SEC have constructed for the protection of the national securities...