The US is accusing the country’s largest crypto trading platform of engaging in illegal activities and is expanding its controls over the industry.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that Coinbase operates as a broker, exchange and clearing agency for investments subject to SEC rules, but has not been properly registered.

The regulator said this allowed the company to evade scrutiny, as well as safeguards against conflicts of interest.

Coinbase, on the other hand, stated that the rules are not clear.

“The solution is legislation that allows for the transparent development and equitable application of fair rules for the road, not litigation,” said Paul Grewal, Vice President and Presidential Counsel at Coinbase. “In the meantime, we will continue to run our business as normal.”

The charges against Coinbase come a day after Binance, the world’s largest crypto trading platform, was sued by the SEC. The SEC accused Binance of mismanaging client funds, artificially inflating the site’s trading volume, and attempting to bypass US regulations.

Authorities have committed to more aggressively monitoring the industry with current rules, arguing that many crypto assets operate like other regulated investments.

Efforts to increase enforcement gained momentum after a major stock market crash last year; it was the collapse of a major exchange called FTX, where many customers were unable to access their funds.

On Tuesday, financial regulators in 10 states, including California and Alabama, took legal action over allegations that Coinbase was operating as an unregistered securities dealer.

“As alleged in the complaint, Coinbase was aware of the applicability of federal securities laws for its business activities, but deliberately refused to follow them,” said Gurbir S Grewal, SEC’s Executive Director. “You can’t ignore rules just because you don’t like them or prefer different ones: the consequences for the investing public will be huge.”