SEC Wants to investigate all Cryptocurrency Exchanges – Binance is Part of Investigation
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States is reportedly carrying out an investigation on every cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.
Binance and Coinbase are Part of the Investigation
A United States office staffer of Senator Cynthia Lummis has claimed that the SEC is ready to take on the cryptocurrency exchanges offering services in the United States.
The claimer has confirmed that the list that is for the cryptocurrency exchanges the US SEC wants to investigate also has Binance mentioned.
This means that even Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States is under investigation by the regulatory authority.
Even Coinbase is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Coinbase is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges that is valued at $20 billion.
Why has SEC become so active?
According to the staffer, there is currently a dispute going on between the two major regulatory authorities where both claim to be the chief cryptocurrency regulator.
The regulatory authorities currently fighting their status out are the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Since 2014, the CFTC has wanted to gain control and authority over virtual currencies and so far, it has managed to do it.
However, the SEC has started voicing its goal to become the chief regulator that deals with virtual currencies. For this purpose, they have expedited their investigations enquiring about the registrations and licenses of all the virtual currencies being offered on US soil.
Gary Gensler’s Claim on Tokens
Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC has claimed that they have concerns about the tokens. He claimed that many tokens being offered in the United States may qualify to be securities that are unregistered.
The tokens being unregistered securities make them fall into their jurisdiction. The US SEC has also hinted in recent days that they aim to cause immobilization in the cryptocurrency industry.
The US SEC Goes after Coinbase
Just recently, a former employee at Coinbase as well as two associates was charged with involvement in insider trading activities.
The regulator has also imposed an allegation that the exchange has been involved in offering at least nine securities that are unregistered to be offered in the US.
The recent claims by the regulatory authority have sent ripples all over the cryptocurrency industry.
Status of Ethereum and Bitcoin
For now, the battle is ongoing between the CFTC and the SEC, as both of them aim to establish their regulatory oversight.
While the battle is ongoing, a bill has been introduced this week by the Senate Agriculture Committee to recognize Ethereum and Bitcoin as commodities.
If the bill gets passed, then ETH and BTC, as well as all other digital currencies with similar features will be considered commodities. This would take away the control from the US SEC and automatically transfer it to CFTC.
