Coinbase Inc., one of the most popular cryptocurrency platforms, said it got the green light from USA watchdogs to move forward with a trio of acquisitions that will allow it to become one of the first federally regulated venues for trading digital coins deemed to be securities.
The company spokesman said on Monday that the USA Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) approved Coinbase’s purchase of Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace Inc. and Digital Wealth LLC. The acquisitions enable the firm to offer so-called security tokens, and also place the businesses under federal oversight.
Regulated trading platforms could eventually handle billions of dollars in tokens sold by companies in initial coin offerings. Despite a crackdown by the U.S., China and other countries, companies have already raised more than $12 billion through ICOs in 2018, more than triple what they did all of last year, according to market tracker CoinSchedule. The SEC has said most of the coins are securities, which means issuers must register and comply with federal laws – as do platforms that handle trading.
