The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has recently been making strides when it comes to its talks with established financial and economic authorities in the US. Coinbase’s ambition is to operate its own regulated broker-dealer service, which would mark a major milestone in bringing the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector closer to the traditional financial markets. In an effort to realize this, Coinbase has recently acquired the securities dealer Keystone Capital.

The San Francisco-based exchange is most well known for its exchange service, which has achieved widespread adoption despite a relatively sparse offering on only four different cryptocurrencies. A tell-tale sign of its rapid rise might be that Coinbase was recently listed as one of the ten most ”disruptive” companies on a list compiled by CNBC. However, Coinbase has recently been trying to diversify its offerings to users and move away from solely being an exchange. For example, the exchange purchased earn.com this April, a service which allows users to send and receive virtual currency in exchange for performing so-called ”micro-tasks”. Coinbase has also announced a series of products aimed at institutional investors, has launched the Coinbase Ventures incubator fund, an index fund, and recently revealed a deal with the Compound startup that will let users lend or borrow their cryptocurrency, earning them interest.

Nonetheless, the most notable of Coinbase’s projects has been its pursuit of becoming an SEC-regulated broker-dealer service. Being able to offer blockchain-based securities approved by the SEC would be a huge breakthrough when it comes to attracting institutional investors, and will be sure to peak the interest of Wall Street. Some have been skeptical as to whether Coinbase could successfully receive SEC authorization, however, Coinbase has been taking significant steps towards successfully doing it. The exchange has acquired a broker-dealer license, an alternative trading system license, and a registered investment advisor license. However, the by far most integral part of this is Coinbase’s acquisition of Keystone Capital.

Coinbase has acknowledged that it will take the exchange ”several months” in order to take over Keystone Capital’s licenses and certifications. However, if Coinbase successfully manages to become certified by the SEC, this would mark a major milestone both for Coinbase and the cryptocurrency sector as a whole. For starters, it would allow Coinbase to realize its vision of being the ”most trusted way to buy, sell and use many different types of cryptocurrency assets”. It would also speak volumes to the ”maturity of the crypto economy”, which Coinbase pointed out in a recent Medium post. Nothing is set in stone as of yet, but it will undoubtedly be interesting to see what comes of Coinbase’s ambitions.

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