A regulatory Big Bang is engulfing cryptocurrency exchanges. In the span of 48 hours, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has fixed two of the industry’s biggest operators in its sights.
On Monday, it accused Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, and founder Changpeng Zhao, of committing some of the same malfeasances that led to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. The SEC alleged Binance had diverted customer money and used secret trading firms to prop up trading volumes.
A day later, the regulator sued Coinbase, the largest US crypto platform, for allegedly operating as an unregistered broker and dealing in unregistered securities.