Coinbase in Hawaii Is Now Back in Business After 7 Years

Key Points:

• After a seven-year absence, Coinbase resumes operations in Hawaii, the only state where it previously did not operate.
• The Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs relaxed previous crypto regulations.
• The return of Coinbase in Hawaii aligns with evolving U.S. crypto regulations, including the SEC’s approval of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.

According to Bloomberg, Coinbase, the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., has announced plans to return to Hawaii, its first operational expansion into the state since 2017.

Read more: Notable Highlights in Coinbase Crypto Report Q2/2024

Coinbase in Hawaii Resumes Operations After Seven-Year Hiatus

The move is in reaction to recent regulatory changes from the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Division of Financial Institutions that relaxed earlier strictures on digital asset companies.

With its estimated population of 1.4 million, Hawaii was the only U.S. state where Coinbase never operated under strict regulations. The exchange was forced to pull out earlier because of a local policy that wanted a one-to-one cash reserve over Bitcoin holdings. The ruling was changed in late June 2024, allowing Coinbase in Hawaii to make re-entry.

Regulatory shift—began in 2020 with Hawaii’s announcement of the Hawaii Digital Currency Innovation Lab, a regulatory sandbox for crypto companies to test their products without obtaining a state money transmitter license. Of the twelve companies to be ultimately accepted into this program, Gemini’s participation helped set the stage for more mainstream adoption of digital assets.

Coinbase Heads During a Shifting U.S. Regulatory Cryptocurrency Landscape

Hawaii would be the site of Coinbase’s relaunch in light of a changed regulatory environment associated with exchanges in the U.S., with the Securities and Exchange Commission recently approving exchange-traded funds directly holding Bitcoin and Ether.

In the meantime, Coinbase is still mired in litigation with the SEC over the accusations of running an unregistered securities exchange, which it has answered by filing a countersuit.

With the resumed Coinbase in Hawaii, the exchange is going to enable people to trade in cryptocurrencies and be able to take part in staking, a process whereby tokens are used to support blockchain transactions, expanding accessibility to digital asset services in the state.