We'll see if any evidence turns up in court. I think it's a good thing that Coinbase has audited statements to review and that the SEC is scrutinizing them.

If Coinbase is cooperative and absolved thanks to their diligence, they'll be further cemented as the standard for others in the industry to follow as regulators play catch up.

That's just the first and lowest bar - exchanges and broker/dealers not outright stealing the customer's money. Then come issues such as self-dealing, trading on an exchange that you you run, and similar market manipulation offenses.

Coinbase has issuer-side problems, too. Coinbase claims that their "staking as a service" offering is not a securities offering, but it looks a lot like a mutual fund. You buy in, and someone else manages the money. Just because the management strategy is pre-defined and passive doesn't matter. Passively managed mutual funds, such as index funds and ETFs, are still considered regulated investment offerings.

They won't win in the end. They're trading against their own customers.