Is SEC action against crypto exchanges a "power grab"?

Lawsuits from US regulators against Binance and Coinbase demonstrate a clampdown on noncompliance in the sector but heighten a wider picture of global uncertainty in the regulation of cryptoassets, report Kate Gee and Joshua Ryan.

Kate Gee(kate.gee@signaturelitigation.com) is a partner at Signature Litigation withmore than 12 years' experience of acting in complex, high-value, cross-border disputes, including civil fraud and asset tracing claims, general commercial litigation and banking litigation. Joshua Ryan(joshua.ryan@signaturelitigation.com) is an associate with experience in complex, high-value international disputes.

As the global crypto market looks to regulators to provide guidance as to the treatment of cryptoassets, there is an increasing level of divergence in how those regulatory bodies are responding. In the United States, there is also domestic tension between two key regulators - the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) - as they compete for control of crypto regulation.