According to The Wall Street Journal, the SEC has opened an investigation into the FTX platform, in addition to looking into Coinbase and Binance.
After its abrupt collapse this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are looking into the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Staff from both law enforcement agencies were contacted on Wednesday, the newspaper continued. While the SEC enforces civil investor protection rules, the Department of Justice prosecutes criminal offenses, including fraud.
The subject of the SEC investigation, which has been going on for months, is the company’s subsidiary in the United States – FTX US.
According to SEC officials, some of the assets listed on FTX’s platform and lending product may be securities and, under US law, should have been registered with the SEC before being sold to investors.
If so, the company’s handling of client assets may also violate regulations governing US stock exchanges.
Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has frequently called for trading platforms like FTX to register with the agency and abide by the same laws that govern conventional exchanges, while promising to launch application campaigns.
Binance pulls out of FTX acquisition deal
Binance pulled out of the FTX acquisition deal after reviewing the company’s finances.
“Due to company due diligence, as well as recent news reports regarding mismanaged client funds and alleged US agency investigations, we have decided not to pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.“, Binance said on its official Twitter page.
Another glimmer of hope comes as Tron founder Justin Sun says he is building a solution with FTX. He tweeted: “We will do everything we can to protect our users, including trading all TRX, BTT, JST, SUN and HT on the FTX platform in a 1:1 ratio.“