Coinbase Pauses Ethereum Staking Reward Withdrawals for Up to Three Days

Coinbase – the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States – temporarily paused payouts of ETH staking rewards on Tuesday, citing a “minor technical issue.”

While the exchange promised that user rewards are “still being earned and will be paid out,” the company said the issue might take up to three days to fully resolve. 

“This minor technical issue has been identified and our teams are working to implement a fix,” Coinbase told Decrypt via email. “We indicate a 48-72 hour resolution estimate.”

Coinbase’s staking service lets users deposit ETH and other proof of stake cryptocurrencies with their platform, where they can then be put to work securing their respective blockchains, and earning more crypto as a reward. 

SEC Warns Coinbase of Enforcement Over Its Staking Rewards Products

Coinbase received a Wells Notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, alleging that the company's staking products constitute unregistered securities. The notice also mentions "aspects of Coinbase's exchange... and Coinbase Wallet." A person familiar with the matter told Decrypt that Coinbase is "confident it will be able to defend its position in court." The source also said Coinbase leadership is frustrated that the SEC has allowed American investors to participate in cryp...

Coinbase’s product provides a more accessible path for most people to start staking ETH, since it doesn’t require a minimum deposit of 32 ETH ($58,300) to participate as direct, individual staking does. 

Staking services in the United States have been under fire from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this year, however, for allegedly violating securities laws. The agency fined Kraken $30 million in February for failing to register its own staking service, and forced it to shut down before ETH staking withdrawals were even enabled. 

While Coinbase hasn’t been officially charged yet, the company received a Wells Notice from the SEC in March warning of possible securities violations. Coinbase said it believed the commission was likely taking issue with multiple Coinbase products, including its staking service. 

Coinbase ‘Will Defend Staking in Court if Needed’: CEO

U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase has launched a defense of its staking services, after the future of the practice was thrown into doubt by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement action against Kraken last week. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted on Sunday that the company’s staking services are not securities. “We will happily defend this in court if needed,” Armstrong said. It comes after the SEC hit rival exchange Kraken with a $30 million fine for offering its staking-as-a-servic...

Coinbase argued that staking does not constitute a securities offering, and has signaled a willingness to fight the SEC in court on the issue if necessary. It later asked a court to force the SEC to clarify rules surrounding crypto assets, a request that the agency requested to have struck down on Tuesday.  

Coinbase clarified with Decrypt that its suspension of ETH staking on Tuesday “has no relation whatsoever to any regulatory or legal issues.” When asked, the exchange would not disclose the nature of the technical issue nor why it would take 48-72 hours to fix.

“We'll share an update as soon as this issue is resolved,” said the company.