Coinbase, one of the leading U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges, has published a blog post differentiating its staking-as-a-service program from others in the market, and clarifying that, for the institution, this kind of service does not constitute a security offering.

In a blog post published on February 10, Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of the company, states how getting this point wrong in regulation may affect the whole crypto industry in the country. The article explains the stance of the company on the issue, stating:

Staking is not a security under the US Securities Act, nor under the Howey test. Trying to superimpose securities law onto a process like staking doesn’t help consumers at all and instead imposes unnecessarily aggressive mandates that will prevent US consumers from accessing basic crypto services.

Furthermore, Grewal also criticized the way that the U.S. SEC is handling cryptocurrency regulation, explaining that regulation by enforcement is a “poor substitute” to actual rulemaking.

(By Sergio Goschenko)