Binance Legal Charges Propel Rival Coinbase Shares to 18-Month High

Crypto exchange Coinbase recently saw a surge in its shares, hitting an 18-month high in response to a significant development involving rival exchange Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao.

On November 27th, Coinbase’s shares closed at $119.77, marking its highest value since May 5, 2022. This rise, according to TradingView data, shows an increase of approximately 256.5% year-to-date, despite being down 65% from its all-time high of nearly $343 on November 12, 2021.

The surge in Coinbase’s shares follows a pivotal event involving Binance and CZ, as they pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering, violating U.S. sanctions, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The settlement between Binance and the U.S. government amounted to $4.3 billion, leading to CZ’s resignation as CEO and subjecting Binance to compliance monitors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Treasury for up to five years.

Meanwhile, Coinbase has been making strides in its own right, securing substantial gains related to pending U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to Cointelegraph, Analyst James Seyffart explained that Coinbase acts as custodian to 13 of the 19 spot crypto ETFs currently awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Despite these gains, Coinbase is entangled in legal battles with the SEC. The regulator has accused the exchange of operating without proper registration and listing tokens that violated U.S. securities laws. Coinbase attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, questioning the SEC’s jurisdiction in regulating crypto, setting the stage for a complex legal battle in the industry.