Coinbase under SEC investigation for cryptocurrency listings

A U.S. probe is looking into Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) if it improperly let Americans trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities.U.S. SEC scrutiny of Coinbase has increased since the platform expanded the number of tokens in which it offers trading.The agency probes into an alleged insider trading scheme that led the regulator last week to sue a former Coinbase manager and two other people.A former employee violated its insider-trading rules by leaking information to help his brother and a friend buy tokens just before they were listed on the platform.With crypto seeing significant drop in its market prices, U.S. regulators are are now overseeing the digital currencies more closely as it believes that trading platforms should do more to protect retail investors.Coinbase lets Americans trade more than 150 tokens making it the largest U.S. trading platform.The company posted an entry on its blog that "Coinbase does not list securities. End of story."SEC Chair Gensler has long argued that many cryptocurrencies fall under the regulator’s jurisdiction and that firms offering them should register with his agency.COIN shares are down 3.9% down premarket.