Crypto Biz: Binance’s CZ falls, Grayscale and BlackRock meet with SEC, and more

cointelegraph.com:

Imagine building a company from a $15 million initial coin offering to an impressive $60 billion empire. That’s exactly what Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has done with Binance since he founded the crypto exchange in 2017 before resigning on Nov. 21 as part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). 

However, CZ wasn’t just the brain behind Binance — he might be the most important player in the whole crypto game. As such, his downfall represents more than just a personal setback; it’s another blow to the cryptocurrency industry’s global image and credibility.

The U.S. also targeted Kraken in this week’s crypto crackdown. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the exchange, alleging it commingled customer funds and failed to register as a securities exchange, broker, dealer and clearing agency. The same accusations were brought against Coinbase and Binance in June.

The recent blow came despite Kraken reaching a $30 million settlement with the regulator in February, which apparently wasn’t enough to satisfy the regulator. The recent rollercoaster reveals one thing about the crypto industry: it is undergoing a period of change.

This week’s Crypto Biz also reviews the Grayscale and BlackRock meetings with the SEC, Circle’s new bridge standard, Bittrex Global’s shutdown and CoinGecko’s newest acquisition.

The SEC sat down with two more investment managers to discuss their applications for a spot Bitcoin  (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). Grayscale met with SEC officials on Nov. 20 regarding a rule change to list the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, in addition to an agreement with BNY Mellon to act as a transfer agency and service provider. BlackRock's representatives met with the SEC on the same day,