PANews reported on February 8 that according to Reuters, on Friday, a U.S. federal judge ruled that the crypto exchange Coinbase must face lawsuits from customers who accused the exchange of illegally selling securities without registering as a broker-dealer. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, New York, rejected Coinbase's argument that Coinbase did not qualify as a "legal seller" under federal securities laws because it had never transferred ownership of the 79 tokens traded by customers. The judge cited the allegation that "customers on Coinbase only trade with Coinbase itself," which was enough to conclude that Coinbase was a seller.

Engelmayer also refused to dismiss the charges filed under California, Florida and New Jersey laws, saying that customers have sufficiently alleged that Coinbase was the direct seller of the tokens. Coinbase said in a statement: "Coinbase does not list, offer or sell securities on its exchange. We look forward to defending the remaining charges in the district court."