The
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
lawsuit
against
Binance
and
its
co-founder
Changpeng
Zhao
(CZ)
is
set
to
proceed
after
a
Friday
ruling.
A
judge
in
the
U.S.
District
Court
for
the
District
of
Columbia
gave
the
green
light
to
10
out
of
13
counts
in
the
SEC
lawsuit.
Bloomberg
reported
that
according
to
Judge
Amy
Berman
Jackson,
the
lawsuit’s
10
counts
can
proceed
in
its
entirety,
while
two
counts
can
proceed
partially.
The
SEC
sued
Binance
and
CZ
last
year
after
the
exchange
signed
a
plea
deal
with
other
regulatory
agencies,
including
the
Financial
Crimes
Enforcement
Network
(FinCEN)
and
the
Department
of
Justice
(DOJ).
The
plea
deal
resulted
in
a
historic
fine
of
$4.3
billion.
The
SEC
even
used
unsealed
Binance
and
CZ’s
plea
deals
to
bolster
its
claims.
The
SEC’s
claims
against
Binance
and
CZ
involve
mishandling
of
customer
funds,
misleading
investors
and
regulators,
and
violating
securities
laws.
Binance
and
CZ
have
been
trying
to
get
the
claims
dismissed.
Count
dismissals
The
judge
dismissed
one
count
in
the
lawsuit
concerning
the
sale
of
stablecoin
Binance
USD
(BUSD).
The
now-defunct
stablecoin
faced
a
regulatory
crackdown
last
year
—
Paxos,
Binance’s
BUSD
issuing
partner
stopped
minting
BUSD
in
February
following
action
from
the
New
York
Department
of
Financial
Services
(NYDFS).
In
November,
Binance
announced
that
it
would
phase
out
support
for
BUSD
by
December
2023.
Part
of
a
dismissed
count
concerned
the
secondary
sale
of
BNB,
Binance’s
native
token,
by
parties
other
than
Binance.
BNB
has
a
market
cap
of
over
$84
billion
with
over
147
million
tokens
in
circulation,
according
to
CryptoSlate
data.
The
judge
also
dismissed
part
of
a
claim
relating
to
Binance’s
Simple
Earn
program,
which
allows
users
to
earn
interest
by
lending
tokens.
The
SEC’s
lawsuit
against
Binance
is
one
in
a
long
line
of
legal
actions
aimed
at
establishing
cryptocurrencies
as
securities
that
fall
under
the
SEC’s
jurisdiction.
Many
in
the
crypto
industry
and
in
Congress,
however,
have
criticized
the
SEC
for
overreaching.
In
its
latest
effort,
the
SEC
sued
Consensys
on
Friday,
alleging
that
its
MetaMask
wallet
and
its
swapping
and
staking
features
violate
securities
laws.
Mentioned
in
this
article
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Author: Monika Ghosh
