Crypto Regulation News Weekly Digest: SEC Sues Kraken and IOSCO Issues Crucial Crypto Regulations
The past week brought several new major developments on the crypto regulation front. The SEC sued a major crypto exchange, IOSCO developed new international standards, Turkey pushed ahead with licensing requirements, Canada’s OSFI moved to refine industry rules, and NYDFS tightened token listing and delisting policies.
These key events are indicative of intensifying oversight of the booming digital asset sector.
On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission leveled serious charges against cryptocurrency trading platform Kraken. The regulatory agency alleges Kraken illegally operated as an unregistered exchange since 2018, depriving investors of protection and oversight.
Specifically, the SEC claimed that Kraken acted as an exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency without proper registration or adherence to securities laws. The lawsuit also accused Kraken of deficient recordkeeping that put customer assets at risk.
Failing to register has “resulted in a business model rife with conflicts of interest that placed investors’ funds at risk,” SEC enforcement chief Gurbir Grewal said in a statement. “Kraken’s choice of unlawful profits over investor protection is one we see far too often in this space.”
Kraken swiftly denied the allegations, asserting that courts have previously rejected claims that crypto assets are classified as securities. The action signifies the SEC’s intensifying crackdown on the crypto industry. Just this year, the agency has also targeted major players like Binance and Coinbase as it expands its authority over digital currencies.
In a Tuesday post on X, Kraken Co-founder Jesse Powell publicly criticized the SEC, referring to the agency as “USA’s top decel”—a derogatory tech sector term implying
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