Regulators target another cryptocurrency platform

SEC probes Coinbase. Regulators are also eyeing another crypto exchange.

It seems planned.

The crypto industry has been requesting clear guidelines from regulators for years. Federal officials have criticized the industry.

Ishan Wahi, a former Coinbase product manager, and two others are accused of orchestrating an insider-trading operation that netted them $1.1 million.

Wahi allegedly told his brother Nikhil and friend Sameer Ramani about future token-listing announcements.

The SEC also struck a significant blow to the industry by designating 9 of the 25 cryptocurrencies purchased during the scheme to be securities. The nine tokens must be disclosed and transparent as corporate shares.

Bloomberg News later reported that the SEC was also examining Coinbase, which listed these tokens. The investigation focuses on digital assets listed as securities.

Paul Grewal, Coinbase's chief legal officer, tweeted on July 25 that the company's "rigorous diligence process" keeps securities off its platform. "We look forward to working with the SEC on the topic."

Coinbase isn't the only bitcoin exchange under scrutiny. The Treasury Department is also investigating Kraken.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has been investigating Kraken since 2019 over suspected sanctions violations. Treasury will likely fine, but there's no timeline.

Kraken allegedly let Iranians under sanctions to utilize its platform.

"Kraken doesn't comment on regulator talks," "Marco Santori, Kraken's CLO, emailed a statement. "Kraken's compliance team continues to grow to match its operations. Kraken monitors sanctions legislation and notifies suspected issues to regulators.

The government expanded economic and financial sanctions to the crypto business. The U.S. believes sanctioned businesses and individuals may utilize bitcoin exchanges to evade sanctions.

Treasury has sanctioned BitGo and BitPay.

OpenSea, the "Amazon" of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), barred Iranian users this year to avoid penalties. Kraken, a private corporation, aims to democratize banking, not use crypto as a "weapon."

"Knowing when to wield power might be difficult. Individual needs are more important than government or political factions for our objective. People's money is a peace weapon, not a war weapon "Jesse Powell, Kraken's CEO, tweeted in February.

"If we were to freeze the financial accounts of countries who unfairly attack and provoke violence, we'd start with the US. We can't really do that as a business "