My hunch is that it has more to do with the amount of money you've taken from prominent/powerful/connected Rich Guys than how strictly large you are or how many you employ.

There's a lot of hidden soft power in the USA amongst the ultra-wealthy, I've come to learn.

(Note that this is not a criticism specifically against Coinbase, per se; more an indictment of the lack of equal protection under the law in the USA in general. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.)