Crypto on the verge of a meltdown: Kraken strikes a deal with the SEC and Binance halts U.S. dollar transfers

The crypto-currency market may be facing an imminent crash due to the shock effect of the latest news. According to an official announcement, the exchange has reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by agreeing to shut down its crypto staking service and pay $30 million in penalties.

It appears that things have moved quickly between the two parties after it was previously stated that a deal could be reached within “next few days“. Kraken was under investigation by the SEC to determine whether it was offering unregistered securities.

Crypto-currency market reacts to SEC news about Kraken

Meanwhile, the crypto-currency market is falling heavily in reaction to the SEC’s announcement of the Kraken settlement. In a very short period of time, bitcoin (BTC) has lost about $600 to reach the $22,000 level. At the time of this writing, the price of BTC is $22,025, down 3.75% in the past 24 hours. Based on current market sentiment, it is more likely that BTC will continue to fall.

On the other hand, leading crypto-currency exchange Binance said it was temporarily halting deposits and withdrawals in US dollars. This has led to speculation that the exchange is having difficulties with its banking partners in the United States. The company said in a statement that it was working to restart the service as soon as possible.

Crypto-currency tagging: the SEC’s target?

There has been a lot of talk about the crypto-currency staking service after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that the SEC was about to ban staking. He said that rumors were circulating that the SEC was planning to ban crypto-currency staking for retail investors. The latest news of Kraken proposing to shut down its staking service only reiterates the SEC’s intentions.