and Binance, for allegedly breaking securities laws by failing to register their operations with the agency.
Coinbase Chief Executive Brian Armstrong, an outspoken SEC critic who has led a push in Washington for clearer crypto rules, on Wednesdayat Gensler, calling him an "outlier" among Washington policymakers and accusing him of being "icy" when the company approached him about registration. Both Coinbase and Binance deny the SEC's allegations and have pledged to vigorously defend themselves in court.the Department of Justice to investigate after allegations in the SEC's Monday complaint indicated that Binance had made false statements to Congress about its business practices in a written response to lawmakers questions in March.
In a federal court filing made public on Thursday, the SEC also said it wanted Binance's U.S. assets frozen so they would remain safely in the country. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao later tweeted that Binance.US had roughly $2 billion in customer assets which had never left the platform unless withdrawn by customers.
Other U.S. crypto exchanges are likely to be in the firing line as a result of this week's lawsuits, which expand the overall number of cryptocurrencies that the SEC has explicitly identified as securities, Reuters