Coinbase is under fire for terrible customer service following reports of users’ accounts being hacked and drained of funds. According to a Tuesday investigation by CNBC, thousands of customers across the country have lodged complaints against the company. The outlet stated that it had interviewed numerous Coinbase customers who claimed hackers had drained their accounts, with the issue exacerbated by the exchange not responding to support requests: “Interviews with Coinbase customers around the country and a review of thousands of complaints reveal a pattern of account takeovers, where users see money suddenly vanish from their account, followed by poor customer …

Powers On... is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches the course “Blockchain, Crypto and Regulatory Considerations.” More and more, governments are fearing that they will lose control over aspects of their respective legitimate financial systems, including capital raising and trading, to the hundreds of unlicensed, unregulated centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges worldwide. There is a clear rising chorus of alarm …

Coinbase president and chief operating officer Emilie Choi has announced that the reserves backing the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) will be consolidated into cash and United States government treasuries. A Sunday blog post from Centre Consortium — the entity that was collaboratively established by top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase and blockchain financial services company Circle, which issues USDC — stated that USD Coin’s reserves will soon be entirely held in “cash and short duration U.S. Treasuries.” On Twitter, Choi attributed the change in policy to backlash against USDC’s reserves expanding beyond cash, cash equivalents and U.S. treasuries in May. The …

Lawrence Zlatkin, global VP of tax at Coinbase, has taken aim at the rushed cryptocurrency provisions added to Congress’ bipartisan infrastructure bill “at the last minute,” slamming lawmakers for hastily inserting amendments that could impact “60 million Americans.” In a Saturday blog post taking aim at a Thursday, Aug. 19, editorial article from Bloomberg that praised the infrastructure bill’s crypto provisions, Zlatkin criticized the lack of opportunity for public discourse regarding the legislation, estimating that 20% of the United States population are invested in digital assets: “Today, around 60 million Americans own crypto — roughly one-fifth of the entire U.S. …

Leading United States exchange by trade volume Coinbase has revealed plans to add half a billion dollars worth of crypto to its balance sheet. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the company’s board had approved the crypto spending spree in a Friday tweet, adding that Coinbase also plans to invest 10% of all profits generated into digital assets moving forward. Armstrong also indicated the company hopes to increase the percentage of profit it allocates to cryptocurrency purchases over time. We recently received board approval to purchase over $500M of crypto on our balance sheet to add to our existing holdings. …

Coinbase has announced a new support phone line for customers who believe their account has been compromised by outside actors. Users will be able to speak to a live support agent, who can kick off an investigation immediately. In an industry where support tickets and emails are the standard method of communication, Coinbase expects that this implementation could help users save valuable time when dealing with this type of crisis. Coinbase also offers its customers additional layers of protection that include two-factor authentication, unknown device recognition and advanced hardware security keys. Account takeovers, or ATOs, involve a malicious actor gaining …

Coinbase, the top crypto exchange in the U.S. has announced its official launch in Japan in partnership with banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). The firm led by CEO Brian Armstrong announced on Aug. 19 that it will first launch retail trading products including “a suite of five top assets based on trading volume,” with more assets and products to be listed in the coming months. “We also plan to introduce more localized versions of globally popular services such as advanced trading, Coinbase for Institutions, and more in the future,” The partnership with Tokyo-based MUFG will see the bank …

Coinbase, the largest American cryptocurrency exchange, has stockpiled a war chest worth about $4 billion in cash in preparation for decreased crypto retail trading volumes and higher operating costs brought on by regulatory hurdles. It reportedly expects to use the cash to cover costs incurred by a variety of factors, including conforming to new regulations handed down by the United States legislature. Coinbase chief financial officer Alesia Haas told the Wall Street Journal that no one single danger to the exchange or the industry had compelled the exchange to build its cash reserves but that it was best to be …

Michael Burry, the investor made famous by The Big Short movie, has taken out a major short position against Cathie Wood’s Ark Innovation exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to second-quarter 13F filings from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Burry’s hedge fund, Scion Asset Management, has purchased $31 million worth of bearish put options against 235,000 shares of the ETF. Put options are a way of profiting from the decline in value of a stock or fund. The Innovation ETF is the largest Ark fund with $22.62 billion in assets. It invests in a range of disruptive technology companies, including …

The cryptocurrency market has had a wild ride thus far in 2021 as multiple sub-sectors including decentralized finance (DeFi), nonfungible tokens (NFTs), memecoins and layer-two solutions have seen their total value locked and token prices skyrocket to new highs. One of the biggest success stories of the year was Dogecoin (DOGE), a simple "joke" cryptocurrency that has morphed into a darling of the cryptocurrency sector. Interestingly, over the past month, the project is again gaining momentum, and several data points suggest sentiment for the DOGE is becoming increasingly bullish. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since hitting …

Over the course of 2020 and 2021, the cryptocurrency industry has attracted a notable amount of mainstream attention. In line with the growing awareness of the crypto industry, Intel, a tech company with history dating back to the 1960s, revealed an investment in crypto exchange Coinbase. Although a number of specifics remain unknown such as when the purchase occurred, required Q2 financial disclosure from Intel showed the outfit carrying 3,014 COIN shares at Q2’s conclusion, according to a Friday article from Barron’s. “Intel was obligated to disclose the stake to the Securities and Exchange Commission because it owns more than …

Coinbase stock rebounded during the early U.S. trading hours on Aug.11 after it beat Wall Street forecasts for sales and revenues in the second quarter. The cost to purchase one COIN share surged 4.7% to $282.34 at the New York opening bell. Later, bids for COIN rose to as high as $294 before pulling back to the current price at $279.72. Strong Q2 earnings for Coinbase Coinbase reported better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter of 2021and a net revenue of $2.3 billion. That came out to be 27% higher than the previous quarter and 1,042% up on a year-over-year basis. …