The Crypto market has experienced a really troublesome rollercoaster ride in 2023, with several exchanges filling for bankruptcy and shutting down.

The SEC of the other hand is not slowing down on cracking down on exchanges that are in violations of it's regulations.

The number of crypto trading platforms that are launched have been on a steady rise since 2021, especially the centralized exchanges. Crypto was initially created to bring decentralization so why does centralization sell so well in a system that is meant to be decentralized?

The decentralized p2p system are very less intuitive UI and are very complex to navigate especially for people who are new to the web3 space.

Unfortunately many of these exchange cant leave up to their hype and most time become too irrelevant for people to even look at, this is one of the reasons why some of these exchanges go bankrupt and fold up, but not the one's I want to discuss with you today.

Bitrex: This was a US-based crypto exchange that offered trading, lending, and staking services for various cryptocurrencies. It shut down in January 2023 after being sued by the SEC for allegedly violating securities laws and facilitating unregistered securities offerings. The SEC claimed that Bitrex failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering and customer identification procedures, and allowed its platform to be used by fraudsters and hackers to conduct illegal activities. Bitrex denied the allegations and said it complied with all applicable laws and regulations, but decided to cease operations to protect its customers and stakeholders.

Hotbit: This was a global crypto exchange that provided spot and margin trading, as well as futures and options contracts, for over 800 cryptocurrencies. It shut down in May 2023 after 5 years of operation. Hotbit cited several reasons for its closure, such as the FTX collapse in November 2022, the USDC depegging event in March 2023, the investigation of a former Hotbit management employee in August 2022, and the repeated cyberattacks and exploitation of project defects by malicious users. Hotbit also said that centralized exchanges are becoming increasingly cumbersome and unlikely to meet long-term trends, and that the industry is moving towards either regulation or decentralization.

Kraken: kraken is now in a battle similar to the one between Binance and the SEC. The SEC has charged Kraken for operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, dealer, and clearing agency.

The SEC alleges that Kraken has made hundreds of millions of dollars unlawfully facilitating the buying and selling of crypto asset securities since at least September 2018. The SEC also claims that Kraken’s business practices, deficient internal controls, and poor recordkeeping practices present a range of risks for its customers.

In February 2023, the SEC charged Kraken for failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program and ordered them to pay $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties.