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Crypto giant Binance in hot water with U.S. regulators. What’s next?

The world’s largest crypto exchange is being sued by the SEC. What does that mean for crypto?

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The world's largest crypto exchange platform has been sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of financial misconduct.
The world's largest crypto exchange platform has been sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations of financial misconduct.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Cryptocurrency prices plunged after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday it was suing Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange for, among other things, mishandling customer funds.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said, “The public should beware of investing ….on these unlawful platforms.” Binance said in a statement that all user assets on its platforms are safe.

Gil Luria, a senior software analyst at DA Davidson, has been excited about crypto for a decade now.

He said it’s important to remember that many of these cryptocurrencies are just open-source software and it’s not their fault that an exchange on which they’re traded is having legal problems.

“The software doesn’t know or care who uses them and who allows you to buy or sell those crypto assets through,” Luria said. 

He said lawsuits like the one the SEC is bringing against Binance point to the need for more regulation around cryptocurrency. 

Amy Wall, who’s written several books on taxation and crypto says it’s too good of an idea to go away.

“The question is, can we make it serve us? Can we tame it to the point where it’s controllable, and people can rely on it,” she said.

But even if people feel like they can rely on the cryptocurrencies themselves, when the exchanges prove to be less than reliable, it means there are fewer places for these assets to be traded. That could make crypto a less attractive investment.

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