On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), headed by Gary Gensler, sued crypto exchange Coinbase for not registering as a securities broker. The day prior, the SEC filed charges against Binance for operating an unregistered securities exchange, also accusing CEO Changpeng Zhao of civil fraud.
The core issue that's long been in dispute is whether cryptocurrencies are different from securities like stocks and bonds. If they are securities, as the SEC claims, firms like Coinbase and Binance have been illegally operating unregistered exchanges. In Coinbase's case, the SEC alleges that it has sold 13 crypto-assets (of the roughly 250 on offer) that ought to be registered with regulators, as they deem them to be securities. Coinbase's staking products are also deemed securities by the SEC, which the company disputes.
