The announcement brought an end to the surge of bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum since the beginning of 2023

Ethereum (ETH-USD) fell 9 per cent in value on Monday, after crypto exchange Kraken agreed to end its crypto staking for US customers and pay $30 million to settle a US Security Exchange Commission (SEC) charge.

The crypto market did not react well to the Security Exchange Commission’s action on Kraken, as the announcement brought an end to the surge of bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum since the beginning of 2023.

Paxos has also been told by a New York regulator to stop the minting of new coins, as per a Bloomberg report. Paxos partners with Binance to issue the BUSD stablecoin (BUSD-USD).

The global cryptocurrency market cap has reacted to the latest regulatory actions on the sector by dropping 1.6 per cent in 24 hours to $1.05 trillion, as per Coingecko.

Ethereum shed 9 per cent in the past seven days to $1,483, while bitcoin dropped 6.2 per cent to $21,537.

The descent into the red stared in earnest last Thursday when Security Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler announced he would be charging Kraken with failing to register the offer and sale of its ‘staking as a service’ program.

Kraken, which is the world’s third biggest crypto exchange after Binance and Coinbase (COIN), had been offering staking services for at least six crypto tokens, including ethereum. The exchange advertised annual returns of as high as 21 per cent on certain staked instruments.

Gensler said: Today the Security Exchange Commission charged Kraken for the unregistered offer and sale of securities through its staking-as-a-service program. Whether it is through staking-as-a-service, lending, or other means, crypto intermediaries must provide the proper disclosures & safeguards required by our laws.

He released a video to explain to the US public why the Security Exchange Commission is taking such a strict stance against platforms that offer staking services.