If you have been paying attention to news of the crypto sector, you would know already that the market remains largely unregulated. It is more like a Wild West market which is tech-driven where traditional finance rules can not be applied.
Now let's look at an interesting event that took place in the Coinbase crypto exchange. An employee named Wahi had access to knowledge about which tokens would be listed on the platform in the near future. Now whenever a new token is listed on Coinbase, it is normal for its price to rise.
Considering it to be an opportunity for making big money, Wahi and his associates started engaging in insider trading of crypto. Since they knew beforehand which token would be listed, they engaged in buying those assets. Once the assets got listed and witnessed a price increase, Mr. Wahi would go on to sell his tokens and bag the profit.
This was an elaborate scheme that is very common in the stock market. But for the crypto market, this was the first time, especially in the markets. If the authorities manage to prove that Wahi was involved in crypto insider trading, he could face federal prison.
Experts believe that it is still not clear whether the crypto assets will be qualified as securities or not. But besides that, it seems that the SEC is also going against XRP or Ripple, which is also a famous crypto firm in the USA.
Besides that, there is also an investigation in which the authorities have alleged that coin base is allowing the trading of unregistered securities. If this case reaches a final conclusion, things for the crypto may turn far worse.
Even if we look outside the USA, it seems that a battle is going on between the crypto markets and the governments.