Breaking: Coinbase Postpones Nasdaq Listing Post CFTC’s $6.5M Fine

Coinbase has reportedly pushed back its much-awaited public debut on Nasdaq by a couple of weeks to April in the wake of CFTC’s $6.5 million fine for wash trading charges. The crypto exchange is currently under multiple investigations for its earlier misconduct, and people aware of the matter informed that the directors of the company along with former employees are cooperating with the investigation.

Coinbase was fined for false, misleading, or inaccurate reporting and wash trading from January 2015 to September 2018. Acting Director of Enforcement Vincent McGonagle said,

“Reporting false, misleading, or inaccurate transaction information undermines the integrity of digital asset pricing. This enforcement action sends the message that the Commission will act to safeguard the integrity and transparency of such information.”

CFTC claimed Coinbase during the said period made use of two automated trading programs Hedger and Replicator which used to match orders on each other’s order book to show an inflated trading volume. This data was also used for different indices partnered with Coinbase, thus offering false market information.

Coinbase and Other Crypto Firms Looking to go Public Might Face Delays

The ongoing investigation into Coinbase by CFTC for its earlier conducts including the listing of BCH, Ethereum-related events, liquidity market making, and so on. Industry inside also believes Coinbase could be the first among many and it may impact the public debut of several crypto companies.

According to Bloomberg, Coinbase will postpone its listing until April. Earlier, CFTC announced on Friday that it would impose a fine of $6.5 million. It may affect subsequent listings of cryptocurrency companies in the United States and Greater China. pic.twitter.com/qvh7Ypvo34

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 20, 2021

Coinbase was all set to make its public debut in the coming weeks, having listed nearly 115 million of its stocks on Nasdaq just a couple of days back. However, the ongoing investigation along with a recent fine has pushed the listing a couple of weeks further and many believe that the CFTC’s action could also affect other crypto companies listing in the US and China.