Coinbase, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, is reportedly trying to get registered with the US securities watchdog as a licensed brokerage firm and a digital trading platform, as regulators are closely watching the growing virtual currency industry. The San Francisco, California-based start-up has held talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission in recent weeks regarding the licensing, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Coinbase's crypto trading exchange GDAX is the ninth-largest exchange by daily 24-hour volume, according to CoinMarketCap.
Getting licensed would mean Coinbase can expand its roster of cryptocurrencies available on its trading platform and include those that are classified as securities by the SEC.
While announcing the launch of its venture funding arm, Coinbase Ventures, Coinbase President Asiff Hirji said on CNBC that the firm prefers to be on the right side on regulation.
"The assets that we do list have all had some amount of regulatory certainty," Hirji said.
"As soon as there is more regulatory clarity than there currently is, you would expect us to start listing more assets," he added.
Late March, Coinbase announced its intention to support the Ethereum ERC20 technical standard in the coming months, paving the way to add more cryptocurrencies to its exchange.
However, Coinbase said the GDAX team will wait for additional regulatory clarity before deciding on which ERC20 assets to support. The firm also received an e-money license from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority in March that allows it to issue digital money and provide payment services in the UK.
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