The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement with Kraken over the crypto exchange's USD 30m staking-as-a-service offering, which violated US securities laws. The settlement requires Kraken to pay the fine and cease offering its staking service in the US. Kraken was not required to admit guilt. The development is the latest setback for the US crypto market, raising questions about the legal status of digital assets and whether they are subject to securities regulation. The SEC's action against Kraken could have implications for other US betting providers, such as Coinbase, which have also come under scrutiny from the agency over the issue of securities regulation.
In a separate development, the SEC is investigating Binance USD (BUSD), a stablecoin launched by Binance and Paxos. The SEC considers BUSD to be a security, which could have significant implications for the entire crypto sector. Paxos has suspended the issuance of new BUSD units, which could lead to a delisting. Tether (USDT) is of course benefiting from this turmoil around BUSD.
It will be exciting to see how the actions of the SEC in the US will affect the major players and thus the entire crypto market.
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