To make the situation even thornier, the SEC on Friday accused cryptocurrency companies Genesis and Gemini, founded by the Winklevoss twins of Facebook fame, of unlawfully offering unregistered securities for sale. The charges come after SEC Chairman Gary Gensler faced criticism from some investors for failing to protect against FTX's alleged abuses.
While some leaders in the crypto world, like the CEOs of Coinbase and Ripple, have asked for more regulation around crypto trading in the past, the charges did not go over well with Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss, who criticized the SEC's actions as "totally counterproductive" on Twitter.
Despite the current turmoil in the industry, with some analysts questioning how much more strain the industry can take, cryptocurrency prices are faring relatively well: both Bitcoin and Ethereum prices are up by double-digit percentages since the start of the year.