U.S. Exchanges List More Than a Dozen Cryptos the SEC Says Are Illegal to Sell

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been waging a campaign to regulate cryptocurrencies since 2017, arguing it has the authority to oversee many digital coins and the platforms that trade them.

The SEC can only regulate digital coins that are classified as securities, a category that includes assets such as stocks and bonds. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said most crypto tokens fall within that category. That means many were distributed illegally, because securities can only be sold to the public if they are registered with the SEC and the issuers provide financial and risk disclosures.