New Jersey rescinds Coinbase staking order after three years

On October 30, 2026, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities rescinded its June 2023 cease-and-desist order and $5 million penalty against Coinbase's staking service without prejudice, allowing 145,270 state users to resume staking. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed service access will return very soon, though California, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Washington maintain active restrictions. Coinbase Q3 2026 staking revenues dropped 54% to $85.7 million amid market price declines.

New Jersey regulatory action on Coinbase staking

• ▪Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong stated that New Jersey users will regain access to Coinbase's crypto staking service very soon following the state's October 30, 2026 order rescission
• ▪Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Molly Abraham stated that New Jersey users missed millions of dollars in staking rewards over three years, while Coinbase previously estimated those missed state rewards at over $15 million
• ▪Acting Bureau Chief Keith A. Alt signed an order rescinding the cease-and-desist order and $5 million penalty against Coinbase's staking service without prejudice
• ▪In June 2023, 145,270 New Jersey residents were using Coinbase's staking service when the New Jersey Bureau of Securities alleged that the service constituted an unregistered security

Coinbase third-quarter 2026 staking revenue drop

• ▪Coinbase reported in its October 29, 2026 third-quarter filing that blockchain rewards, primarily from staking, generated $85.7 million, representing a 54% decrease from $184.6 million in the third quarter of 2025
• ▪Coinbase attributed $111.8 million of its third-quarter 2026 blockchain rewards revenue decline to lower Solana and Ethereum prices, with lower reward rates accounting for an additional $18.9 million drop

Impact of state regulatory restrictions

• ▪In April 2025, Coinbase estimated that its users across multiple U.S. states had missed out on $90 million in staking rewards due to state-level regulatory restrictions
• ▪In its October 29, 2026 quarterly filing, Coinbase warned that losing its remaining state-level enforcement cases in California, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Washington could materially hurt its business

California regulatory enforcement and user impact

• ▪Coinbase estimates that California users have missed out on more than $89 million in staking rewards since state regulatory restrictions took effect in 2023
• ▪California led a ten-state regulatory task force behind the 2023 staking enforcement actions against Coinbase, which affected over 600,000 accounts held by California residents

State-level regulatory actions and enforcement status

• ▪California, Maryland, and Wisconsin continue to enforce agreements barring Coinbase from offering new staking services, while Washington state maintains an active regulatory enforcement action seeking a $4 million fine
• ▪State securities regulators in Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Vermont dropped their respective regulatory actions against Coinbase's staking service during 2025

Securities and Exchange Commission staking actions

• ▪In May 2025, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff issued non-binding guidance stating that protocol staking generally does not involve securities, though Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw publicly dissented from that position
• ▪The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed in February 2025 to drop its federal lawsuit against Coinbase regarding the exchange's crypto staking service

U.S. Senate political dynamics and elections

• ▪Ahead of the November 3, 2026 U.S. midterm elections, prediction markets favored Democrats to win Senate control, which would position Senator Elizabeth Warren to chair the Senate Banking Committee
• ▪Pro-crypto Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis announced plans to retire from the U.S. Senate in January 2027

Crypto political advocacy and campaign funding

• ▪The Fairshake super PAC and its affiliated political action committees backed 19 Republican and 14 Democratic candidates in U.S. House of Representatives races ahead of the November 2026 midterms
• ▪Crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto reported that the number of members of the U.S. Congress receiving an A rating from the organization rose from 96 at its 2023 launch to 332 by November 2026