Coinbase hit by revived SEC probe as stock sheds monthly gains in single-day drop

By: cryptosheadlines|2025/05/16 07:30:07

Airdrop Is Live CaryptosHeadlines Media Has Launched Its Native Token CHT. Airdrop Is Live For Everyone, Claim Instant 5000 CHT Tokens Worth Of $50 USDT. Join the Airdrop at the official website, CryptosHeadlinesToken.com A New York Times report has disclosed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Coinbase. The report published on May 15 stated that the SEC is investigating whether claims of having over 100 million users are misrepresentations.According to the report, the investigation started under the Joe Biden administration when Gary Gensler was the SEC chair and has continued into the Trump administration. Coinbase had claimed 100 million verified users in its initial public offering documents in 2021 and other public filings after.However, Coinbase included a caveat in the filings stating that the metric might be an exaggeration since one user can open multiple accounts using several phone numbers and email addresses. The exchange finally stopped citing the metric in 2023, noting that it no longer reflects the company’s overall performance.Meanwhile, the New York Times report claimed that Coinbase had contacted the SEC to resolve the issue and even hired the Davis Polk & Wardwell law firm to represent it. While the regulator gave no information about the investigation, Coinbase has confirmed it.The company’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said in a statement on CNBC that it was a holdover investigation that should have been suspended. He added that the exchange will continue to work with the SEC to resolve the matter.He said:“This is a holdover investigation from the prior administration about a metric we stopped reporting two and a half years ago, which was fully disclosed to the public. While we strongly believe this investigation should not continue, we remain committed to working with the SEC to bring this matter to a close.”Nevertheless, the SEC has not yet appeared to share this view. The report claims that the agency has reportedly been in contact with former Coinbase employees in recent months over the matter.Coinbase is facing headwinds despite recent milestonesThe news that Coinbase still has a legal issue to contend with represents a major headwind for the exchange that has been basking in the euphoria of a pro-crypto administration. With most regulatory agencies changing their approach to crypto, the exchange has been a big beneficiary.So far this year, the SEC has dropped two lawsuits over unregistered securities and staking against Coinbase. Five US states have also dismissed similar litigations over the exchange staking program.Beyond its legal wins, the company also recently joined the S&P 500, becoming the first crypto company to achieve this and signaling its growth over the past few years. However, news of recently disclosed investigations by the SEC represents a headwind for the company.With a pro-crypto SEC that has dropped dozens of lawsuits and investigations and is choosing to hold on to one against Coinbase, there are concerns that the regulator might have a case against the company.Meanwhile, Coinbase had also revealed that it was the victim of a breach that allowed bad actors to gain access to the data of some of its users. Although the exchange said it affected less than 1% of its monthly users, it estimates that remediation and reimbursements for users may cost between $180 million and $400 million.The disclosure by Coinbase finally confirms the recent concerns raised by cybersecurity experts such as ZachXBT and Tayvano, who have criticized the exchange multiple times for allowing scammers to steal from its users.Tayvano recently condemned Coinbase’s plan to introduce encrypted messaging to the Coinbase Wallet, noting that it would only give scammers direct access to users.Coinbase stock falls 7%With the headwinds that the company is facing, it is unsurprising that its COIN stock fell 7% today to $244.44. This wiped out most of its gains for the past month, when it had gained almost 40%.Following today’s drop, COIN is down 1.55% year-to-date, a performance worse than that of Bitcoin and XRP, which has gained 9.44% and 4.57% YTD but better than that of major altcoins such as Ether and Solana.Interestingly, COIN’s performance contrasts with that of another major crypto stock, MSTR. The Bitcoin treasury company is up 37% YTD.Cryptopolitan Academy: Coming Soon – A New Way to Earn Passive Income with DeFi in 2025. Learn MoreSource link

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Mixin has launched USTD-margined perpetual contracts, bringing derivative trading into the chat scene.

The privacy-focused crypto wallet Mixin announced today the launch of its U-based perpetual contract (a derivative priced in USDT). Unlike traditional exchanges, Mixin has taken a new approach by "liberating" derivative trading from isolated matching engines and embedding it into the instant messaging environment.

Users can directly open positions within the app with leverage of up to 200x, while sharing positions, discussing strategies, and copy trading within private communities. Trading, social interaction, and asset management are integrated into the same interface.

Simplified Trading Experience: No KYC Required, Opening a Position in Five Steps

Based on its non-custodial architecture, Mixin has eliminated friction from the traditional onboarding process, allowing users to participate in perpetual contract trading without identity verification.

The trading process has been streamlined into five steps:

· Choose the trading asset

· Select long or short

· Input position size and leverage

· Confirm order details

· Confirm and open the position

The interface provides real-time visualization of price, position, and profit and loss (PnL), allowing users to complete trades without switching between multiple modules.

Social-Native Trading: Strategy and Execution Completed in the Same Context

Mixin has directly integrated social features into the derivative trading environment. Users can create private trading communities and interact around real-time positions:

· End-to-end encrypted private groups supporting up to 1024 members

· End-to-end encrypted voice communication

· One-click position sharing

· One-click trade copying

On the execution side, Mixin aggregates liquidity from multiple sources and accesses decentralized protocol and external market liquidity through a unified trading interface.

By combining social interaction with trade execution, Mixin enables users to collaborate, share, and execute trading strategies instantly within the same environment.

Referral Mechanism: Non-institutional users can receive up to 60% fee split

Mixin has also introduced a referral incentive system based on trading behavior:

· Users can join with an invite code

· Up to 60% of trading fees as referral rewards

· Incentive mechanism designed for long-term, sustainable earnings

This model aims to drive user-driven network expansion and organic growth.

Self-Custody Architecture and Built-in Privacy Mechanism

Mixin's derivative transactions are built on top of its existing self-custody wallet infrastructure, with core features including:

· Separation of transaction account and asset storage

· User full control over assets

· Platform does not custody user funds

· Built-in privacy mechanisms to reduce data exposure

The system aims to strike a balance between transaction efficiency, asset security, and privacy protection.

A New Path for On-Chain Derivatives

Against the background of perpetual contracts becoming a mainstream trading tool, Mixin is exploring a different development direction by lowering barriers, enhancing social and privacy attributes.

The platform does not only view transactions as execution actions but positions them as a networked activity: transactions have social attributes, strategies can be shared, and relationships between individuals also become part of the financial system.

Regulatory Background

Mixin's design is based on a user-initiated, user-controlled model. The platform neither custodies assets nor executes transactions on behalf of users.

This model aligns with a statement issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 13, 2026, titled "Staff Statement on Whether Partial User Interface Used in Preparing Cryptocurrency Securities Transactions May Require Broker-Dealer Registration."

The statement indicates that, under the premise where transactions are entirely initiated and controlled by users, non-custodial service providers that offer neutral interfaces may not need to register as broker-dealers or exchanges.

About Mixin

Mixin is a decentralized, self-custodial privacy wallet designed to provide secure and efficient digital asset management services.

Its core capabilities include:

· Aggregation: integrating multi-chain assets and routing between different transaction paths to simplify user operations

· High liquidity access: connecting to various liquidity sources, including decentralized protocols and external markets

· Decentralization: achieving full user control over assets without relying on custodial intermediaries

· Privacy protection: safeguarding assets and data through MPC, CryptoNote, and end-to-end encrypted communication

Mixin has been in operation for over 8 years, supporting over 40 blockchains and more than 10,000 assets, with a global user base exceeding 10 million and an on-chain self-custodied asset scale of over $1 billion.

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