Coinbase says SEC threatens to sue Lend product

Last week, the SEC sent Coinbase a notice warning it of its intention to sue in court over the planned Lend scheme, the company’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal said in a blog post.
News of Wells’ notification sent Coinbase shares down more than 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday.

In a 21-tweet thread, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong accused the SEC of some "very sketchy behavior," adding that the regulator refused to meet with him in Washington earlier this year.

1/ There has been some very sketchy behavior from the SEC lately.
Story time...

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 8, 2021

Grewal said Coinbase plans to launch Lend in the coming weeks after nearly six months of “proactive engagement” with the SEC.
The program will allow eligible customers to earn interest on select assets on Coinbase, starting at 4% APY on USD Coin.
Grewal claimed that the company could have “simply launched” Lend without contacting the SEC and that other crypto companies “have had lending products on the market for years.”
“The SEC told us they believed Lend was a security, but didn’t say why or how they reached that conclusion,” Grewal said.
Additionally, the regulator “requested the names and contact information of everyone on our Lend waitlist,” Grewal said, adding that Coinbase has yet to hand over that information.
The SEC has yet to comment on the matter.