Cryptocurrency prices are stabilizing after a dip in the SEC’s crackdown jitters

Cryptocurrency prices are showing signs of stabilizing Monday after a sharp market sell-off last week sparked by a lawsuit against Coinbase and Binance for securities violations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Over the past 24 hours, some coins have continued to decline but at a much slower pace, while some are recovering in single-digit percentages, indicating that prices are stabilizing at the start of the new week.

Cardano, the world’s seventh most valuable cryptocurrency, is up more than 1% in the past 24 hours, while Ripple’s XRP, in sixth place, is up nearly 1%, According to CoinMarketCap. Meanwhile, Binance’s BNB token and Solana’s SOL are still down 4% over the past day. Bitcoin and ether have been relatively flat.

In the past week, four of the 10 most valuable currencies have fallen in value by at least 15%. Cardano coin has taken a massive beating in the past seven days, dropping more than 28%. Binance’s BNB token is down 25% and Polygon’s MATIC is down over 29% in the same period.

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase and Binance last week, accusing both of selling unregistered securities, among other charges. On Tuesday, the US regulator alleged that Coinbase was operating as an unregistered exchange and broker, and that 13 assets listed on its platform were considered crypto securities. These assets include Solana’s SOL token, Cardano’s ADA, and Polygon’s MATIC.

Binance was also accused on Monday of inflating trading volumes, diverting customer funds, and misleading customers about its controls, among other things.

“Coinbase went to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to ask for clarity,” Dave Weisberger, CEO and co-founder of crypto algorithmic trading solutions provider CoinRoutes, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia,” noting that such companies are open to regulation from the authorities. “You have this asset class that threatens the oligopoly of financial institutions around the world,” he said.

After the lawsuits were filed, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler told CNBC in an interview, “We don’t need any more digital currencies.”

“The investor public has the advantage of US securities law. Crypto shouldn’t be any different, these platforms, these brokers should comply,” Gensler added.

Gensler, who was appointed by US President Joe Biden in 2021, has spent most of the past year cracking down on cryptocurrency companies and exchanges.