The crypto industry has been hit hard recently, with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, two of the largest crypto exchanges. The SEC accused them of selling unregistered securities, resulting in significant losses for various cryptocurrencies, including Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and others. Collectively, these tokens lost 15%, or $5 billion, off their market capitalizations, a Decrypt analysis of CoinGecko data revealed.
Although industry experts have criticized the SEC’s allegations as “pretty unfair,” the tokens have inevitably suffered. According to the suits, cryptocurrencies that got named include SOL, ADA, MATIC, Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos Hub (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Algorand (ALGO), Axie Infinity (AXS), and COTI (COTI).
Following the lawsuits, a report by Messari Crypto showed that its emerging markets category, which includes many of the SEC-targeted projects, dipped by 25%. However, some tokens have already shown signs of recovery, with FIL and ALGO nearing their pre-lawsuit market caps. Meanwhile, the ATOM token has a 5% gap to close, but most of the other tokens are still struggling.
Binance, which is facing regulatory clampdown from several countries, has seen its BNB_token lose 21% of its market value since the lawsuit, dropping from $47 billion to $37 billion. Charles Hoskinson’s ADA experienced a 17% decrease in market capitalization, with its current value at $10 billion. Polygon suffered the most with a 20% market cap decline.
Some emerging market tokens not implicated in the SEC lawsuit have also experienced losses. Avalanche (AVAX) saw a 6% drop in market cap, while Optimism (OP) witnessed a significant 17.5% decline.
However, it is crucial to note that despite these drops in token prices, the crypto market has experienced a bullish rally recently. The so-called BlackRock Rally occurred as the traditional finance giant filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF, pushing the Bitcoin (BTC) price over $31,000 for the first time in months, setting a positive trend for most tokens.
While the SEC’s actions have undoubtedly affected the market, the industry’s resilience should not be understated. The recent rally demonstrates that, despite regulatory hurdles, the broader market can still prosper. As tokens face increased regulatory scrutiny, it is essential for investors to weigh both the risks and potential rewards associated with the assets they choose to support.
Source: Decrypt