Coinbase limiting staking service for retail customers in four states

(Reuters) – Coinbase (NASDAQ:) retail customers in California, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wisconsin will be unable to pledge new cryptocurrency to the exchange’s staking program pending proceedings the states initiated last month challenging the service, Coinbase said Friday in a blog post.

Any cryptocurrencies that users in those states had staked before the orders were issued June 6 are unaffected, Coinbase said.

Ten states accused Coinbase in June of violating state securities laws through its staking program, which allows cryptocurrency holders to lock up certain assets for a period of time in exchange for yield.