Aug 1 (Reuters) - Coinbase reported a surge in

second-quarter revenue on Thursday as trading volumes at the

crypto exchange roared back to life thanks to market euphoria

over easing regulatory roadblocks.

Crypto markets have gotten a shot in the arm this year from

the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of an

exchange-traded fund to track the spot price of bitcoin

and more recently, ether, the second-biggest crypto

token.

The approvals come after an almost decade-long tussle with

the regulator and mark the entry of traditional financial

heavyweights such as BlackRock ( BLK ) and Fidelity into digital

assets, giving the sector greater credibility.

In the aftermath, the total market capitalization of the

sector has swelled to roughly $2.36 trillion, according to

CoinGecko, powered by year-to-date gains of around 50% and 36%

in the prices of bitcoin and ether, respectively.

Coinbase's total transaction revenue climbed to $780.9

million in the second quarter, compared with $327.1 million in

the year-ago quarter.

Meanwhile, the SEC and Coinbase have locked horns over their

divergent views on whether crypto tokens classify as securities

and should be regulated similarly.

The exchange has accused the top U.S. markets regulator of

overreach, while the SEC has alleged the largest U.S. crypto

exchange is flouting its rules.

The company's net revenue came in at $1.38 billion for the

three months ended June 30, compared with $662.5 million a year

ago.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)