Coinbase, Binance and Kraken under scrutiny: Law Decoded, July 25-August 1

cointelegraph.com:

Despite some good signs of the crypto prices recovery, last week could hardly be called bright for the market, as the major news came from the enforcers and not the regulators. According to a report from the New York Times, the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has been investigating crypto exchange Kraken for allegedly allowing users based in Iran and other countries to buy and sell crypto in a potential violation of U.S. sanctions. 

In the other hemisphere, the Philippines’ think tank Infrawatch PH filed a twelve-page complaint calling on the local Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to crack down on Binance’s activities in the country. The news comes shortly after the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) waved off a Binance ban proposal in early July, citing a lack of regulatory clarity, as one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges indeed still doesn’t hold a license in the Philippines.

These developments form an alarming trend, given the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into Coinbase’s alleged trading of unregistered securities. Michael Bacina, an Australian digital assets lawyer with Piper Alderman, told Cointelegraph that the impact on exchanges might occur whether or not the tokens are ultimately found to be securities. And, it would be serious and chilling for both those exchanges and the token projects.

One of the largest stockholders of the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange has dumped a massive amount of shares due to a reported probe by the SEC. Cathie Wood’s investment firm Ark Investment Management has sold a total of more than 1.4 million Coinbase shares, or 0.6% of the exchange-traded fund’s (ETF) total