Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Coinbase Global Inc. for violating the securities laws of the United States. The news has caused the crypto exchange to open nearly 20% down on Tuesday.

Chair Gary Gensler discussed the lawsuit on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”. Gensler denied that there had been a lack of clarity from the SEC and instead stated that “the investing public has the benefit of securities laws. Crypto shouldn’t be different. These platforms need to come into compliance and protect the investing public”.

Crypto companies including Coinbase have been demanding more clarity from the U.S. regulator for the longest time. Gensler also contested the need for more digital currencies, as about 16,000 of them are already tradable via Coinbase. He said, “We already have digital currency, the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Yen. They’re all digital. We have digital investments. So, what’s the real underlying value of these tokens?”

The SEC’s complaint against Coinbase comes on the heels of a similar lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. Gensler also noted that the regulator has had discussions with companies that have business models based on non-compliance with the securities laws. The lawsuit against XRP, filed by the SEC in December 2020, has yet to be proven.