The cryptocurrency industry spent millions last year to unseat a longtime critic, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and install its allies in Washington.

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange based in the U.S., said Thursday that criminals had improperly obtained personal data on the exchange’s customers for use in crypto-stealing scams and were demanding a $20 million payment not to publicly release the info.

Shares are mixed in Asia after a lackluster day on Wall Street, where selling of technology stocks pulled benchmarks lower.

Two recent lawsuits filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges have reopened tensions between the government and a volatile industry that has been marred by scandals and market meltdowns.

Coinbase has been targeted by U.S. regulators in a new lawsuit that alleges the cryptocurrency platform is operating as an unregistered securities platform and brokerage service.

Cryptocurrency companies grabbed the spotlight during the 2022 Super Bowl, with commercials from a handful of newcomers to advertising’s biggest stage: FTX, Coinbase, Crypto.

New York has announced a $100 million settlement with Coinbase over what state officials called significant failures in the cryptocurrency trading platform’s systems for spotting potential criminal activity.

It’s one of the downsides of apps that make things like ordering food or buying stocks and cryptocurrencies easier: What happens when something goes wrong.

Coinbase has made a rousing debut on Wall Street.

Asian stock markets are mixed after Wall Street retreated from a record high as major banks announced strong profits.

Digital currency exchange Coinbase is looking to become a publicly traded company, a move being hailed by some as a start to helping cryptocurrency gain more mainstream acceptance. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)Coinbase has filed papers with U.S. regulators to become a publicly traded company as digital currencies continue to march toward mainstream acceptance. The digital currency exchange is seeking a direct listing, which would allow company insiders and early investors to convert their stakes in Coinbase into publicly traded stock. In a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Coinbase also revealed how interest in digital currency is gaining steam on the exchange. But volatility currently makes the use of digital currency for the exchange for goods and services untenable.