U.S. SEC sues Binance and Coinbase amidst crypto crackdown
Binance and Coinbase have been targeted in a new round of lawsuits by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against crypto businesses. The regulator pressed 13 charges against Binance on June 5, including those involving unregistered offerings and sales of tokens, and failing to register as an exchange or broker-dealer. The commission also went after Coinbase on similar grounds, alleging that popular cryptocurrencies offered by the exchange are securities. Trading volume across the major decentralized exchanges jumped 444% in the hours following the legal actions. In the six months after FTX’s bankruptcy, SEC crypto-related enforcement actions rose 183%.
SEC lawsuits: 67 cryptocurrencies are now seen as securities by the SEC
The total number of cryptocurrencies the United States securities regulator has labeled as a “security” has now reached an estimated 67, after adding a few more to the list in its lawsuit against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase. In its case against Binance, the SEC introduced 10 cryptocurrencies into the securities classification, while it named 13 cryptocurrencies in its Coinbase suit. The “security” label now applies to over $100 billion worth of the market, or around 10% of the $1.09 trillion total crypto market capitalization.
Coinbase CEO’s stock sale was probably not planned to occur a day ahead of SEC suit
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong sold company shares the day before the SEC lawsuit against the exchange. The transaction caused a minor stir in the Twitter cryptoverse, as Armstrong avoided a sharp loss by doing so. SEC records show that Armstrong sold 29,730 shares of the company on June 5, the day before the SEC suit. Armstrong has been selling Coinbase stock regularly since November under a 10b5-1 plan adopted in August, which determines the timing and size of transactions in advance. The net worths of Armstrong and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao have suffered heavy blows due to the suits. Within 30 hours, Armstrong’s net worth plummeted by $289 million and Zhao’s by $1.33 billion.
Binance.US suspends USD deposits, warns of fiat withdrawal pause
Binance.US has suspended U.S. dollar deposits and announced an upcoming pause for fiat withdrawals as early as June 13. According to the exchange, it was forced to take action amid “extremely aggressive and intimidating tactics” from American regulators. Trading, staking, deposits and withdrawals in crypto remain fully operational. Binance.US also delisted eight Bitcoin pairs and two BUSD pairs while noting that OTC Trading Portal services were paused.
Crypto.com suspends US institutional exchange service
June 2023 has proven to be a tumultuous month for cryptocurrency exchanges in America. Crypto.com will no longer serve institutional clients in the United States after announcing the suspension of the service starting June 21. The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange cited limited demand from institutional customers as a primary reason for the move, which has been exacerbated by testing prevailing market conditions. American retail users still have access to cryptocurrency derivatives trading and the UpDown Options offering.
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $26,449, Ether (ETH) at $1,837 and XRP at $0.53. The total market cap is at $1.1 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
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