The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claims in its lawsuit against Coinbase that it has been earning billions of dollars in revenue but lacking the disclosures and protections required for registration. Coinbase has never been registered as a broker, national securities exchange, or clearinghouse, and has not been granted any applicable exemptions. Coinbase has been operating since at least 2019 as an unregistered broker, including soliciting potential investors, handling client funds and assets, and charging transaction-based fees; and as an unregistered exchange, including offering a marketplace that aggregates multiple buys and sells Both parties' crypto assets and match and execute these orders. The SEC said that over the years, Coinbase violated the regulatory structure and failed to meet the disclosure requirements that Congress and the SEC built to protect the national securities market and investors.