FTX is not a Broker-Dealer, Exchange, and Clearing Agency: The S.E.C. Accused of Violating the Commodity Exchange Act

In the suit, the SEC says that Binance acted as a broker-dealer, exchange, and clearing agency without properly registering. The BUSD token and the BNB token were listed by the agency as securities that should have been registered. The overarching goal was avoiding regulatory oversight, the SEC alleges.

FTX, a company that collapsed in spectacular fashion and has criminal charges against its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, will be the largest target so far.

In recent months, the focus of regulators and law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and around the world has been on the growth of the market share of Binance since FTX ceased to be a business.

The company was accused in March by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission of violating the Commodity Exchange Act.

The S.E.C. says in its filing that the company and its CEO secretly allowed high value US customers to trade on its international exchange.

The company has said that the U.S. operations were held separately by two subsidiaries, but according to the S.E.C. that is not the case.

In speeches and congressional testimony, Gensler has called on crypto companies to register with the S.E.C. The S.E.C. says that didn’t happen.

The defendants “chose not to register, so they could evade the critical regulatory oversight designed to protect investors and markets,” the S.E.C said, in its suit.

But as dramatic as the charges seem, industry players were far from shocked. Cory Klippsten, CEO at SwanBitcoin, says that no person who operates in the space will be surprised by the charges.