“You simply can’t ignore the rules because you don’t like them or because you’d prefer different ones: The consequences for the investing public are far too great,” Gurbir S. Grewal, the director of the S.E.C.’s enforcement division, said in a statement.

Executives in the crypto industry, which has reveled in challenging the rules and operating outside the heavily regulated confines of the mainstream finance industry, have often argued that digital assets are different and that many of the rules for stocks should not apply.

“The S.E.C.’s reliance on an enforcement-only approach in the absence of clear rules for the digital asset industry is hurting America’s economic competitiveness,” Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said in a statement about the suit.

“The solution is legislation that allows fair rules for the road to be developed transparently and applied equally, not litigation,” added Mr. Grewal, who is not related to the S.E.C. enforcement officer.

“The message here is that regulatory clarity already exists when it comes to exchanges and broker dealers,” said John Reed Stark, a former S.E.C. enforcement lawyer and regulatory consultant.