Other U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges are likely to be in the firing line after the country's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week sued Coinbase and Binance, two of the world's largest crypto exchanges, for allegedly breaching its rules.
The SEC on Tuesday alleged Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities and which should have been registered, while on Monday it also accused Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, of offering 12 cryptocurrency coins without registering them as securities.
The lawsuits expand the overall number of cryptocurrencies that the SEC has explicitly identified as securities. That raises questions about other exchanges that have also allowed U.S. investors to trade those tokens, such as Kraken, Gemini, Crypto.com and Okcoin, and whether they could be at risk of regulatory action, industry executives said. Some exchanges may look to de-list the tokens in question.