Coinbase
SEC listing 9 tokens as securities in insider trading case ‘could have broad implications’ — CFTC
Caroline Pham, one of five commissioners with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has expressed concerns about the possible implications of a case the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, brought against a former product manager at Coinbase. In a Thursday statement, Pham said the SEC complaint against former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi, his brother Nikhil Wahi and associate Sameer Ramani “could have broad implications” beyond the case, given its labeling nine tokens as “crypto asset securities” falling under regulatory body’s purview. The complaint alleged that the Wahis and Ramani engaged in insider trading by using confidential information Ishan obtained from Coinbase with regard to which tokens would be listed on the exchange, in ord...
Coinbase stock has potential to double in 2022 after plunging 90% from record high
Coinbase stock (COIN) price has nearly doubled since its June lows with a potential for much more upside this year, according to a mix of technical and fundamental indicators. COIN’s symmetrical triangle reversal COIN has been undergoing a strong bullish reversal after falling by almost 90% from its record high of $368.90 in November 2021. Coinbase stock price was up over 95% to $75.27 as of July 20’s close when measured from its May 12 local bottom of $40.83. Its recovery led to a symmetrical triangle pattern formation with the price forming a sequence of lower highs and higher lows. Symmetrical triangles in downtrend typically turn out to be bearish continuation patterns. They resolve after the price breaks below their lower trendlines to fall further. But in rare instances, ...
Crypto firms facing insolvency ‘forgot the basics of risk management’ — Coinbase
Department heads at Coinbase have weighed in on the market downturn amid solvency concerns around Three Arrows Capital, crypto lending firm Celsius, and Voyager Digital, saying the crypto exchange had “no financing exposure” to the companies. In a Wednesday blog post, Head of Coinbase Institutional Brett Tejpaul, Head of Prime Finance Matt Boyd, and Head of Credit and Market Risk Caroline Tarnok said Coinbase had not engaged in the “types of risky lending practices” exhibited by Three Arrows Capital, Celsius, and Voyager, claiming the firms were examples of practicing “insufficient risk controls.” According to the trio, crypto companies faced the possibility of insolvency caused by “unhedged bets,” large investments in Terra, and overleveraging with venture capital firms. “The issues here ...
OpenSea lays off 20% of its staff, citing ‘crypto winter’
Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea announced mass layoffs on Thursday, joining other crypto companies in reducing headcount during one of the most volatile periods in the industry’s history. Co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer took to Twitter Thursday afternoon to disclose that his company was laying off up to 20% of its staff. In a long message conveyed to employees, Finzer blamed “an unprecedented combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability” for the layoffs. Today is a hard day for OpenSea, as we’re letting go of ~20% of our team. Here’s the note I shared with our team earlier this morning: pic.twitter.com/E5k6gIegH7 — Devin Finzer (dfinzer.eth) (@dfinzer) July 14, 2022 “[W]e need to prepare the company for the possibility of a prolonged downtu...
Why Coinbase is banning slide decks and ‘endless meetings’
Crypto exchange Coinbase is getting rid of slide decks and “endless meetings” as a way to improve productivity following the purge of roughly 18% of employees last month. In a July 13 blog post, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong noted that the company is currently focused on “driving more efficiency” as it continues to scale, pointing to a 200% year-on-year employee growth over 18 months that had started to put a strain on the firm’s organizational structure. He suggested that many major firms experiencing rapid growth generally end up becoming complacent and slowing down, while great companies do the opposite: “While this trajectory is natural, it is not inevitable. Every great company, from Amazon to Meta to Tesla, found ways to retain their founding energy in conjunction with appropriate con...
Crypto Biz: Coinbase downgraded, 3AC deemed insolvent and Michael Saylor buys the dip
Coinbase has long been considered an important bellwether of the cryptocurrency market. Last year, when the company was expanding its workforce, adding institutional clients and issuing stock, crypto prices were hitting record highs. Now, in the depths of crypto winter, Coinbase finds itself slashing a fifth of its workforce, losing retail trading volume and contending with downgrades of its credit and stock. This week’s Crypto Biz dissects Goldman Sachs’ latest downgrade of Coinbase and also looks at the latest developments surrounding Three Arrows Capital. Goldman Sachs downgrades Coinbase stock to ‘sell’ After a promising debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange in April 2021, it has been nothing but down for Coinbase shares. The company, which once had a fully diluted market capitalization o...
June roundup: Who’s hiring and who’s firing in the crypto space
Amid the recent volatility in the crypto market affecting investments and stock prices, many firms made significant staff cuts in the last month while others continued hiring. In June, major crypto exchange Gemini was among the first to reportedly cut 10% of its employees amid the bear market, saying conditions were “likely to persist for some time.” Coinbase and Crypto.com followed, announcing plans to reduce staff by 18% and 5%, respectively. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong cited the so-called crypto winter as part of the reason for the cuts, but also stated the firm had been growing “too quickly.” Market conditions largely have not changed following many decisions to downsize, and other firms have been forced to make cuts. Crypto lending firm BlockFi announced it would be reducing staff by...
Bitcoin price: June close barely beats 2017 high as Coinbase Premium flips positive
Bitcoin (BTC) finished June 2022 just below $20,000 after a last-minute pump saw bulls escape 40% monthly losses. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Analyst: Bitcoin could stay “boring” for months Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD spiking higher into the monthly close, which came in at $19,924 on Bitstamp. With that, the pair narrowly avoided its first-ever monthly close below a previous halving cycle’s all-time high. On Bitstamp in November 2017, Bitcoin reached approximately $19,770. Right on time. #BTC pic.twitter.com/KxZiOF0kF8 — Material Indicators (@MI_Algos) June 30, 2022 The success was, at best, touch-and-go for a market that nonetheless sealed its worst monthly losses since September 2011, these coming in at around 37.3%. ...
Moody’s downgrades Coinbase due to bear: Warns it may not be the last
Credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the Corporate Family Rating (CFR) and guaranteed senior unsecured notes of crypto exchange Coinbase, and stated that both ratings have been placed under review for further downgrade. The CFR, a rating assigned to reflect Moody’s opinion of a company’s ability to honor its financial obligations, was downgraded from Ba2 to Ba3 which is considered as below non-investment grade. Senior unsecured notes are a type of debt a company holds that is not backed by any assets and in the event of bankruptcy must be repaid before any others. Moody’s downgraded Coinbase’s from Ba1 to Ba2. Earlier in May, Cointelegraph reported Coinbase’s junk bonds tanked in response to an underwhelming first quarter and since the report, the bonds have continued to fall a fur...
Coinbase is facing class action suits over unstable stablecoins GYEN, TerraUSD
A class-action suit was filed against Coinbase on Thursday claiming the trading platform was negligent in its listing of the TerraUSD stablecoin and alleging that it failed to disclose its financial relationship with Terraform Labs. This is the second class-action suit outstanding against Coinbase. A suit was filed last month in connection with the depegging of GYEN in November. Thursday’s suit alleges Coinbase was negligent for failing to conduct due diligence of Terraform Labs before it listed TerraUSD and misrepresenting TerraUSD’s risk as an algorithmic stablecoin. The suit compares the information on stablecoins provided by trading platforms Robinhood, Gemini and Kraken to that of Coinbase and concluded that “Rather than disclose the nature of TerraUSD as uncollateralized, contr...
Crypto Biz: Crypto carnage pushes Celsius, Three Arrows Capital closer to insolvency, June 9-16
The 2022 version of crypto winter has been unlike anything we’ve seen before. As I warned last month, the meltdown of the Terra ecosystem didn’t end with Luna Classic (LUNC) hitting zero. The biggest threat was contagion. As the dust began to settle, we finally got a glimpse of who was left holding the bag. Crypto lender Celsius and Singapore-based venture firm Three Arrows Capital suffered heavy losses during the debacle. These firms, once a staple of the budding crypto industry, now risk demise following weeks of massive selloffs in the market. Celsius reportedly seeks advice from lawyers on restructuring Alex Mashinsky’s Celsius dominated headlines this week after the popular crypto lender paused withdrawals due to “extreme market conditions.” During the freeze, the firm unstaked ...
FINRA may hire employees terminated from crypto firms: Report
The United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, reportedly plans to “bulk up” its capability to monitor crypto — a move that could include scooping up employees recently terminated from crypto companies. According to a Tuesday Reuters report, FINRA president and CEO Robert Cook encouraged crypto workers who expect to be on the chopping block to reach out to the financial regulator as part of its efforts to increase resources related to the space. Major crypto exchanges in the United States including Coinbase and Gemini have announced plans to cut staff amid extreme market volatility, likely resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs. “We are already having to be engaged in the space and we think that as a result it’s appropriate for us to bulk up our c...
