Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias and other state regulators have taken legal action against crypto exchange platform Coinbase Global, Inc. and Coinbase, Inc. for violations of securities laws. The Illinois Secretary of State’s Securities Department is a member of a task force alongside nine other state securities regulators charging Coinbase for its violation of securities laws in connection with the company’s staking offerings. Staking is the process of holding a certain number of digital assets on a blockchain to facilitate processing transactions and to earn a return on the investment. Coinbase operated staking offerings where small to mid-sized investors could turn over their assets to Coinbase, which in turn would manage the process of staking and then takes a cut of the profits before sharing them with investors. This action alleges Coinbase failed to register its staking offerings with the Securities Department. The Secretary of State Securities Department determined Coinbase offered its staking offerings to Illinois residents without registering those securities. Of Coinbase’s nearly 3.5 million accounts holding staking offerings, over 140,000 were issued to Illinois investors. Additionally, Coinbase is not a member of the FDIC or SIPC, which means investors are not protected from Coinbase’s losses. Investors of Coinbase with complaints about their staking offerings may file a complaint with the Securities Department at https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/securities/enforcement_complaint_center/home.html. Investors should also reach out to the Securities Department at 1-800-628-7937 to check the registration status of a firm before investing their money in staking offerings.