The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is maintaining its stance in high-profile legal battles with cryptocurrency exchanges. The SEC insists that Ripple Labs should pay a $2 billion penalty for selling unregistered securities, emphasizing to a New York federal judge that a lower penalty would undermine the regulatory message to the industry. Concurrently, crypto exchange Kraken is seeking to dismiss SEC claims against it, arguing that the agency's demands could significantly reorder U.S. financial regulations. Kraken's motion to dismiss, filed in the Northern District of California, is part of a broader contention that the SEC's actions overreach and lack clear legal basis, with a hearing scheduled for June.