June 5 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrencies and shares in crypto and blockchain-related companies tumbled on Monday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued crypto exchange Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, alleging violations of securities laws.
The SEC's complaint against the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange listed 13 charges.
Bitcoin , the world's biggest cryptocurrency was down 5.3% after falling to its lowest level since mid-March following the news.
In a blog post, Binance said: "We intend to defend our platform vigorously," adding that "because Binance is not a U.S. exchange, the SEC's actions are limited in reach."
Shares of rival crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O) were down 11.6%, while Blockchain farm operator Bitfarms Ltd stock was down 5.8%.
Persons:
Changpeng Zhao, Bitcoin, Binance's cryptocurrency, Binance, Zhao, Sinéad Carew, Manya, Leslie Adler
Organizations:
U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Bitfarms, Inc, Marathon, Mining, BTC, MicroStrategy, Ebang, Canaan Inc, U.S . Commodity Futures, Commission, Manya Saini, Thomson
Locations:
U.S, Binance, New York, Bengaluru