Is This Exchange The Next To Face Staking Crackdown After Kraken ?

The crypto market has been hit with its first massive bearish pull back, especially Bitcoin which has dropped below $22,000 level. The flagship currency which had entered the recovery phase since the start of 2023 has now lost its crucial mark of $22K.

This crypto market crash comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Kraken after the exchange failed to register their sale of asset staking programme. This asset staking was a service program the firm was advertising annual investment return of nearly 21%. However, after the SEC cracked down the program, Kraken agreed to stop its staking products and along with a penalty payment of $30 million.

This saw an increased selling price on Bitcoin which pulled back the price rally to a low of $21,600. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is changing hands at $21,919 after a loss of 3.55% over the last 24hrs. Commenting on the incident, SEC chairman Gary Gensler has warned that this move was to alert the market that staking-as-a-service providers should register.

Who Is SEC’s Next Target?

Now, while the crypto market speculates SEC’s next target, Coinbase seems to be the next. This speculation comes after its CEO Brain Armstrong was the first one to report SEC’s staking crackdown.

However, the firm has declined that Coinbase will not be the target as their staking services are fundamentally different when compared to Karken.

Nevertheless, Brian Armstron has claimed that their firm is ready to fight if the SEC attacks their customers.

Meanwhile, as per the reports more than $220 million funds from the crypto market has been liquidated by 83,000 traders in the last 24hrs. Moreover, one of the largest single liquidations was on OKX exchange which amounted to $ million.

Even though Bitcoin has lost its $22K level, it’s Ethereum which is one of the biggest losers in this crash. In the last 24hrs, the second largest cryptocurrency has lost more than 5%. Additionally, Ethereum has witnessed around $52.2 million liquidation in the past day.

At the moment, Ethereum is valued at $1,552 after a drop of 5.02% in the last day. Now, if the crypto market has to regain its bull cycle, Bitcoin has to flip its trade above $22,500 leading other cryptocurrencies.