Bitcoin extended its decline Tuesday as the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Coinbase Global Inc., the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., with operating an unregistered national securities exchange, brokerage and clearing agency.
The agency brought up the charges against Coinbase
COIN,
one day after it sued Binance Holdings Inc., the world’s largest crypto exchange, and its founder Changpeng Zhao with 13 securities law violations.
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
fell 4.4% over the past 24 hours to around $25,523 on Tuesday, according to CoinDesk data. The cryptocurrency has gained 55% so far this year, but is still down over 60% from its all-time high in 2021.
Ether
ETHUSD,
on Tuesday declined 3.3% to $1,804 and Binance Coin fell 8.5% to $274.63.
Coinbase’s shares plunged 20% in premarket trading Tuesday morning, according to FactSet data.
SEC’s actions reflects U.S. regulators’ latest moves to increase oversight of the crypto industry. Coinbase said in March that it received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which could lead to formal charges.
Coinbase and Binance together account for 70% of crypto trade volumes, according to data from Kaiko.
Representatives at Coinbase didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comments.
