Crypto firm Beaxy has suspended its services following criminal accusations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On Wednesday (March 29), the SEC charged Beaxy and several of its executives with operating as an unregistered broker, exchange and clearing agency. The move is part of an ongoing effort by the regulator to crack down on the crypto sector.

“To ensure investor protection, there are separate registration requirements for exchanges, brokers, and clearinghouses, with each essentially acting as a check on the other,” Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, stated in a news release. “When a crypto intermediary combines all of these functions under one roof — as we allege that Beaxy did — investors are at serious risk. The blurring of functions and the lack of registrations meant that regulations designed to protect investors were not followed or even recognized by Beaxy.”

PYMNTS has reached out to Beaxy for comment but has not yet received a response. A post on the company’s blog Tuesday (March 28) mentioned that it was suspending its operations.

“We forthrightly committed to cooperation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for over two years, continually providing information, data and interviews to assist regulators in whatever manner we could,” the company said in the post. “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it has become clear that the regulatory environment is too uncertain to continue operations.”

In addition to the charges against the company, the SEC also accused founder Artak Hamazaspyan and a company he controlled, Beaxy Digital, of raising $8 million in an unregistered offering of the token BXY and misappropriating at least $900,000 for gambling and other personal use.

These allegations are part of a larger regulatory action against the digital asset space. On Monday (March 27), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against crypto giant Binance, alleging that it had violated the commission’s regulations. As PYMNTS reported, the suit seeks to ban Binance from operating in the U.S.

Also this week, federal prosecutors added to the already-serious list of charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, indicting him for allegedly bribing a Chinese government official.

And last week, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced on Twitter that his company had received a Wells notice from the SEC connected to Coinbase’s listing of potential unregistered securities across its suite of products and services.

“Based on discussions with the Staff, the Company believes these potential enforcement actions would relate to aspects of the Company’s spot market, staking service Coinbase Earn, Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Wallet,” Coinbase said in a statement.

As PYMNTS reported, Wells notices are not formal charges or lawsuits, but often lead to them.

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