- Crypto Exchange KuCoin sued by NYAG.
- NYAG stated Ethereum is a security.
The leading crypto exchange KuCoin is being sued by the New York Attorney General’s office for allegedly breaking state securities and commodities laws. In the case, Attorney General Letitia James makes the shocking statement that Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is a “Security” in addition to Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST), as previously claimed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the official tweet from Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, she has filed a lawsuit in an effort to suppress unregistered cryptocurrency platforms. And this is the eighth action taken by the regulators. However, they consider ETH, like LUNA and UST, as speculative assets. That depends on the work of outside developers to generate profits for its owners.
I'm suing cryptocurrency platform @kucoincom for illegally operating in New York without registering with the state.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) March 9, 2023
This is our eighth action to rein in shadowy cryptocurrency platforms that disregard our laws and put New Yorkers at risk.
KuCoin Unregister Exchange?
According to the complaint filed on March 9 in the Supreme Court of the State of New York County. Letitia James stated that “it sold and offered purchase of cryptocurrencies that are commodities and securities” to residents of New York without registering with the attorney general’s office.
Also, the NYAG claimed, “Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin misleading consumers by representing itself as an exchange.” This is one of the first times a regulator has declared in court that “ETH is a security.”
According to CoinGecko data, KuCoin’s native crypto KCS traded at $8.01 with a 24-hours trading volume of $2.4 million. KCS price declined over 5.5% in a day and 9% in a week. Moreover, today the 5th largest crypto exchange partnered with the layer-1 EVM-compatible platform Fantom by adding FTM to its wallet.
