Coinbase made headlines recently as the first crypto exchange to go public on the Nasdaq, and established firms like Fidelity are adding crypto to their investment offerings. The adoption of online payments using crypto is growing too, thanks to brands ranging from legacy publisher (and NextAdvisor partner) TIME to digital payment facilitator PayPal and international auction house Sotheby’s.
In the U.S., Binance has been the subject of an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is probing whether the platform allowed users to trade derivatives, Bloomberg reported in March, citing sources familiar with the matter. The CFTC investigation is directed at Binance, even though Americans must use Binance.US instead. And in May, the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service commenced money laundering investigations related to the company.

Additionally, cryptocurrencies are frequently used to facilitate gray and black market transactions, so many countries view them with distrust or outright animosity.
“They basically walked around showing people with Lambos and talking crap,” said Cora Harrison, a YouTube personal finance influencer. “It was just really random and not what you wanted to see from somebody to invest money with.”