The Coinbase allegations expose Bitcoin's corporate governance gap

Skip to main contentCrypto NewsOct 20, 2026, 9:35 a.m. EDT2 min readKazakhstan's capital, Astana (Viktor Hesse/Unsplash)SummaryKazakhstan’s AIFC Court barred Coinbase and five other crypto exchanges from offering unlicensed services inside the Astana financial center. The court injunctions apply strictly to users within the AIFC and do not extend across the rest of Kazakhstan. LBank was removed from the order after resolving AFSA concerns, while Apple and Google face potential app-store duties once served. Kazakhstan’s financial regulator secured court orders restricting Coinbase and five other crypto platforms from offering services without authorization in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) said that the injunctions cover BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase and WEEX. The orders prohibit the platforms from offering or marketing unlicensed digital asset services and distributing mobile apps for those services within the center. The restrictions do not amount to a nationwide ban. In a Sept. 15 judgment, Justice Sir Stephen Richards said the injunctions apply only to the AIFC and users located there.

Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Centre court (AIFC) has prohibited six platforms from offering digital-asset services without licenses in its jurisdiction and extended access restrictions to app stores. The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) said Tuesday the court issued injunctions after the regulator sued operators of crypto platforms for offering digital-asset services without authorization. The Sept. 15 order named BingX, Bitcoin.com, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Coinbase, LBank and WEEX; an amendment three days later removed LBank after its operator blocked access in Kazakhstan. Google and Apple are also covered as app-store operators, with geographic restrictions on access to the remaining platforms, according to the announcement. AFSA said users of unlicensed platforms lack safeguards required of licensed firms, including asset protection, disclosure, complaints handling and dispute resolution. Kazakhstan’s National Bank oversees digital-asset service providers outside the AIFC. Cointelegraph’s requests for comment from BingX, Coinbase and Huobi Global were not immediately answered.

SummaryAuthorities arrested 28 people in Ghana and Nigeria in a crackdown on scam networks linked to cryptocurrency investment fraud. Private-sector partners flagged $11 million in funds that could be frozen, while officials reported cryptocurrency seizures without disclosing their value. Meta removed more than 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups, while investigators received leads on over 30 suspected scam centers. Authorities in Ghana and Nigeria arrested 28 people in a crackdown on West African scam networks that included cryptocurrency investment fraud, the U. S. Department of Justice said in a statement. The operation also identified 117 trafficking victims in Ghana who were awaiting repatriation to Nigeria, according to the U. K.'s National Crime Agency (NCA), and saw private companies identify more than $11 million in funds that could be frozen. Partners also reported cryptocurrency seizures but did not disclose their value or the assets involved. The $11 million represents funds flagged for a possible freeze, not confirmed recoveries.

Oct 16, 2026, 7:15 a.m. EDT3 min readU. S. investors will soon have access to binary options on some publicly traded companies. (geralt/Pixabay)SummaryThis is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter 'Daybook.' Sign up here, if you haven't already. While traders spent this week watching bitcoin BTC$81,781.42 gyrate above $80,000 amid key U. S. inflation data, a decision from the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission got far less attention. The (SEC) approved the listing of binary options tied to key performance indicators (KPIs) of 23 U. S. publicly traded companies. The metrics include trading volume at crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN), customer count and revenue at Robinhood Markets (HOOD), and bitcoin production at mining firm MARA Holdings (MARA). “For crypto, this creates a new way to trade crypto-linked company performance beyond betting directly on BTC’s price,” Eleanor Terrett, the host of Crypto America, said on X.

Oct 20, 2026, 2:26 p.m. EDT3 min readAndrew Cuomo, co-chair of OKX-ICE and board member of OKX (OKX)SummaryOKX-ICE co-chair Andrew Cuomo called issuer objections to tokenized stock trading a “natural response,” saying companies were expected to take a wait-and-see approach. Sixteen companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs, have objected to trading on the planned venue under the SEC’s experimental framework. Securitize and Vertalo executives said issuers need answers about pricing, investor protections, custody and shareholder rights as the new markets develop. A growing list of companies rejecting tokenized trading of their shares is an expected part of testing a new market structure, Andrew Cuomo, co-chairman of the OKX-ICE joint venture, said after Microsoft, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs joined the objectors. “This is a very natural response,” Cuomo, an OKX board member and former New York governor, said during a press call on Tuesday.

Financial results are somewhat of a sideshow for an investor base eagerly awaiting updates on robotaxis, robots — and the cost of all that.