Getting rid of crypto staking would be a 'terrible path' for the US

The CEO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, believes that banning retail crypto staking in the United States would be a ‘terrible’ move by the country’s regulators.

Armstrong .

Some industry commentators have suggested that the SEC might go after centralized parties which offer staking services rather than the technology itself, believing the latter would be a losing battle which would “crush them in precedent.”

Timely reminder that https://t.co/splf30ft12 outlines the legal arguments of ETH staking under the Howey Test.

I believe the SEC would likely go after centralized parties offering staking, and not PoS itself as that’d be a harder fight that could crush them in precedent. https://t.co/YiD2Cpxx6z

— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) February 8, 2023

The general counsel for Delphi Digital’s research and development arm, Gabriel Shapiro, suggested there is a strong argument that staking services provided by centralized exchanges like Coinbase constitute a security, drawing parallels between them and other “Earn” products.

Personally although I do think “Earn” programs offered by CEXs are debt securities, I think it is *possible* to offer pure PoS as a service, even on a CEX, without the offer being a security, depending on the details of the terms. But tbqh it’s a close case.

— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) February 8, 2023

Coinbase is currently subject to an ongoing SEC probe, which Coinbase revealed in an Aug. 9, 2022 SEC filing was in relation to its staking rewards amongst other offerings.