• The U.S. SEC has continued to crack down on staking services offered by centralized providers.
• Coinbase has reiterated to customers that its staking services will continue, and may actually increase.
• Coinbase only acts as a service provider connecting users, validators, and the protocol, rather than offering a portion of its own staking rewards.
SEC’s Crackdown on Crypto Staking Services
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S. SEC) has continued to crack down on staking services offered by centralized providers. Popular trader, AltcoinPsycho, shared the detail on Twitter yesterday that Coinbase had updated its staking terms and conditions, effective 29 March in a new customer email.
Coinbase Reiterates Commitment To Staking Services
Coinbase reiterated to customers that its staking services will continue, and may actually increase despite SEC’s crackdown. The exchange explicitly stated that its users earn rewards from decentralized protocols and not from the exchange itself. Coinbase only acts as a service provider connecting users, validators, and the protocol rather than offering a portion of its own staking rewards.
Kraken Agrees To Pay $30 Million Settlement
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (U.S SEC) recently intervened after Kraken allegedly failed to register its staking-as-a-service program with them; leading the company to agree to pay a $30 million settlement last month for their failure do so . Kraken will no longer be able to provide staking services in the United States as part of this agreement; leaving investors unable to receive any returns at all due to their tokens being held by Kraken’s program instead of them having control over it themselves.
Coinbase Claims Its Staking Service Is Different From Kraken’s
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that his company would willingly defend their position in court if necessary in regards to the idea of continuation or potential increase in Coinbase’s staking rewards which could potentially irritate the SEC; claiming that his company’s services are fundamentally different from Kraken’s due solely to it being an intermediary between users/validators/protocol instead of providing tokens or actual profits itself like Kraken did previously with their service program..
Conclusion
Cryptocurrency exchanges should always be mindful when launching new services regarding digital assets such as tokens or cryptocurrency given how strict regulations have become lately – especially when it comes those provided by centralized providers such as seen with Kraken’s example above facing hefty fines for failing do follow proper protocol before launching such programs in order avoid similar outcomes again in future cases involving other exchanges providing such products/services