Lawsuit against Coinbase Claims 79 Tokens Listed Are ‘Securities’
- Three individuals filed the class action suit against the US-listed crypto exchange.
- The lawsuit is a 255-page document.

According to the lawsuit, there are almost 79 tokens listed in the US-based cryptocurrency exchange that could violate state and federal laws. In addition, Christopher Underwood, Louis Oberlander, and Henry Rodriguez, the plaintiffs, claim that buyers were not properly warned of the risk involved when acquiring these assets.
The 255-page document elaborates that each token qualifies as being a security under the Howey test, which refers to them as ‘investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others.’ Brian Armstrong, Coinbase, and Coinbase Global are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“The case is not much of a surprise. After all, the SEC has signalled that it intends to pursue investigations or actions against crypto-exchanges,” Philip Moustakis, the counsel at Seward & Kissel, commented on the legal case. He added: “While the tests to determine whether a token is a security […] are well established, the analysis depends on facts and circumstances and different evaluators weigh certain factors more than others, so it can yield Yield A yield is defined as the earnings generated by an investment or security over a particular time period. This is in typically displayed in percentage terms and is in the form of interest or dividends received from it.Yields do not include the price variations, which differentiates it from the total return. As such, a yield applies to various stated rates of return on stocks, fixed income instruments such as bonds, and other types of investment products.Yields can be calculated as a ratio or as an internal rate of return, which may also be used to indicate the owner's total return, or portion of income, etc.Understanding Yields in FinanceAt any point in time, all financial instruments compete with each other in a given marketplace. Analyzing yields is simply one metric and reflects a singular part of the total return of holding a security. For example, a higher yield allows the owner to recoup his investment sooner, and thus mitigates risk. Conversely, a high yield may have resulted from a falling market value for the security as a result of higher risk. Yield levels are also dictated by expectations of inflation. Indeed, fears of higher levels of inflation in the future suggest that investors would ask for high yield or a lower price versus the coupon today.The maturity of the instrument is also one of the elements that determines risk. The relationship between yields and the maturity of instruments of similar credit worthiness, is described by the yield curve. Overall, long dated instruments typically have a higher yield than short dated instruments.The yield of a debt instrument is typically linked to the credit worthiness and default probability of the issuer. Consequently, the more the default risk, the higher the yield would be in most of the cases since issuers need to offer investors some compensation for the risk. A yield is defined as the earnings generated by an investment or security over a particular time period. This is in typically displayed in percentage terms and is in the form of interest or dividends received from it.Yields do not include the price variations, which differentiates it from the total return. As such, a yield applies to various stated rates of return on stocks, fixed income instruments such as bonds, and other types of investment products.Yields can be calculated as a ratio or as an internal rate of return, which may also be used to indicate the owner's total return, or portion of income, etc.Understanding Yields in FinanceAt any point in time, all financial instruments compete with each other in a given marketplace. Analyzing yields is simply one metric and reflects a singular part of the total return of holding a security. For example, a higher yield allows the owner to recoup his investment sooner, and thus mitigates risk. Conversely, a high yield may have resulted from a falling market value for the security as a result of higher risk. Yield levels are also dictated by expectations of inflation. Indeed, fears of higher levels of inflation in the future suggest that investors would ask for high yield or a lower price versus the coupon today.The maturity of the instrument is also one of the elements that determines risk. The relationship between yields and the maturity of instruments of similar credit worthiness, is described by the yield curve. Overall, long dated instruments typically have a higher yield than short dated instruments.The yield of a debt instrument is typically linked to the credit worthiness and default probability of the issuer. Consequently, the more the default risk, the higher the yield would be in most of the cases since issuers need to offer investors some compensation for the risk. Read this Term different outcomes depending on one’s point of view.”
Coinbase has not issued a statement concerning this case as of press time.
Coinbase Q4 2021 Revenues
Last month, the US-listed crypto exchange reported that it generated $2.5 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021. It was a substantial gain from the previous quarter’s $1.2 billion and exceeded analyst estimation of $2 billion.
The adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.32, compared to the street estimates of $1.94.
The revenue was supported by a significant increase in trading volume on the cryptocurrency exchange. In the reported Q4, ending on December 31, the trading volume soared to $547 billion, increasing from $327 billion in the third quarter and $89 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.
According to the lawsuit, there are almost 79 tokens listed in the US-based cryptocurrency exchange that could violate state and federal laws. In addition, Christopher Underwood, Louis Oberlander, and Henry Rodriguez, the plaintiffs, claim that buyers were not properly warned of the risk involved when acquiring these assets.
The 255-page document elaborates that each token qualifies as being a security under the Howey test, which refers to them as ‘investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others.’ Brian Armstrong, Coinbase, and Coinbase Global are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“The case is not much of a surprise. After all, the SEC has signalled that it intends to pursue investigations or actions against crypto-exchanges,” Philip Moustakis, the counsel at Seward & Kissel, commented on the legal case. He added: “While the tests to determine whether a token is a security […] are well established, the analysis depends on facts and circumstances and different evaluators weigh certain factors more than others, so it can yield Yield A yield is defined as the earnings generated by an investment or security over a particular time period. This is in typically displayed in percentage terms and is in the form of interest or dividends received from it.Yields do not include the price variations, which differentiates it from the total return. As such, a yield applies to various stated rates of return on stocks, fixed income instruments such as bonds, and other types of investment products.Yields can be calculated as a ratio or as an internal rate of return, which may also be used to indicate the owner's total return, or portion of income, etc.Understanding Yields in FinanceAt any point in time, all financial instruments compete with each other in a given marketplace. Analyzing yields is simply one metric and reflects a singular part of the total return of holding a security. For example, a higher yield allows the owner to recoup his investment sooner, and thus mitigates risk. Conversely, a high yield may have resulted from a falling market value for the security as a result of higher risk. Yield levels are also dictated by expectations of inflation. Indeed, fears of higher levels of inflation in the future suggest that investors would ask for high yield or a lower price versus the coupon today.The maturity of the instrument is also one of the elements that determines risk. The relationship between yields and the maturity of instruments of similar credit worthiness, is described by the yield curve. Overall, long dated instruments typically have a higher yield than short dated instruments.The yield of a debt instrument is typically linked to the credit worthiness and default probability of the issuer. Consequently, the more the default risk, the higher the yield would be in most of the cases since issuers need to offer investors some compensation for the risk. A yield is defined as the earnings generated by an investment or security over a particular time period. This is in typically displayed in percentage terms and is in the form of interest or dividends received from it.Yields do not include the price variations, which differentiates it from the total return. As such, a yield applies to various stated rates of return on stocks, fixed income instruments such as bonds, and other types of investment products.Yields can be calculated as a ratio or as an internal rate of return, which may also be used to indicate the owner's total return, or portion of income, etc.Understanding Yields in FinanceAt any point in time, all financial instruments compete with each other in a given marketplace. Analyzing yields is simply one metric and reflects a singular part of the total return of holding a security. For example, a higher yield allows the owner to recoup his investment sooner, and thus mitigates risk. Conversely, a high yield may have resulted from a falling market value for the security as a result of higher risk. Yield levels are also dictated by expectations of inflation. Indeed, fears of higher levels of inflation in the future suggest that investors would ask for high yield or a lower price versus the coupon today.The maturity of the instrument is also one of the elements that determines risk. The relationship between yields and the maturity of instruments of similar credit worthiness, is described by the yield curve. Overall, long dated instruments typically have a higher yield than short dated instruments.The yield of a debt instrument is typically linked to the credit worthiness and default probability of the issuer. Consequently, the more the default risk, the higher the yield would be in most of the cases since issuers need to offer investors some compensation for the risk. Read this Term different outcomes depending on one’s point of view.”
Coinbase has not issued a statement concerning this case as of press time.
Coinbase Q4 2021 Revenues
Last month, the US-listed crypto exchange reported that it generated $2.5 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021. It was a substantial gain from the previous quarter’s $1.2 billion and exceeded analyst estimation of $2 billion.
The adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.32, compared to the street estimates of $1.94.
The revenue was supported by a significant increase in trading volume on the cryptocurrency exchange. In the reported Q4, ending on December 31, the trading volume soared to $547 billion, increasing from $327 billion in the third quarter and $89 billion in the same quarter of the previous year.