https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xgwwd7/sec-sues-coinbase-for-violating-securities-law-exposing-customers-to-significant-risk

The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled a lawsuit against Coinbase, one of the largest and best-known cryptocurrency exchanges based in the U.S., on Tuesday. Coinbase shares slipped 20 percent in premarket trading on the news. 

The lawsuit alleges that Coinbase “merges three functions that are typically separated in traditional securities markets—those of brokers, exchanges, and clearing agencies,” but has never registered as any of these things, violating securities law. This let Coinbase evade the U.S.’s disclosure regime for securities, and “exposed [customers] to significant risk” while collecting billions in revenue from trading fees. The lawsuit seeks for Coinbase to be “permanently restrained and enjoined.”