Scoop: BinanceUS Seeks Major Order From Court After Partial Victory Against SEC

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As a seasoned crypto investor and follower of the Binance saga, I find this latest development to be a significant win for BinanceUS and the crypto industry as a whole. The exchange’s request for relief from the consent order is an important step towards restoring its business operations and providing more clarity in the regulatory landscape.

Binance‘s US branch, Binance.US, is asking the court for a significant ruling that would allow them to be released from last year’s consent order issued by Judge Jackson. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has consented to this relief, enabling Binance.US to adhere to the consent order’s requirements. If granted, this decision would represent another triumph for the exchange and the crypto industry.

BinanceUS Files For Relief From Consent Order

Defenders BAM Trading Services and BAM Management US Holdings ( Binance.US) have asked the district court for leniency from last year’s consent order in their latest court filing. This request follows Judge Amy Jackson’s recent denial of their motion to discard the complaint against them.

Binance.US has invoked its own power and the provision Section IX of the Consent Order to issue this demand. According to Section IX, the parties involved in the agreement have the permission to ask for extra relief or modification of the consent order itself, as permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and relevant law.

BAM is seeking authorization from the court for:

  1. Invest its corporate assets in the ordinary course of its business;
  2. Invest a limited subset of customer assets as defined in the order, and in the US Treasury bills; and
  3. Transfer crypto assets to non-affiliated third-party custodians as weighed by the consent order.

BinanceUS has held discussions with legal advisors from the SEC about the proposed relief. Although the SEC holds a different view than BinanceUS regarding the significance of the requested relief in relation to the existing consent order, they have decided not to obstruct it.

Binance Verdict Provided Major Clarity

The defendants, Binance Holdings and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao, are in agreement with BinanceUS’s proposed motion. Accordingly, Binance.US is required by the consent order to divide its operational system, digital assets, and personnel from the larger cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

In a significant development, Binance secured a substantial but incomplete triumph against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Although the majority of motions advanced towards trial, Binance’s success on motions concerning crypto secondary sales and the sale of Binance USD (BUSD) brought much-needed clarification. Judge Jackson determined that the secondary trading of Binance Coin (BNB) and the sale of BUSD were not classified as securities. Critics within the crypto community accused the SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler, of damaging Binance and Paxos’ BUSD stablecoin business.

Additionally, the judge upheld the Securities and Exchange Commission’s argument regarding Binance’s BNB Vault case. However, they rejected the SEC’s claims concerning Binance’s Simple Earn program.

The judge has directed both Binance and the SEC to submit a unified proposal by July 29 for the next stage of the proceedings. Additionally, they must establish specific dates for filing any proposed amendments to the initial complaint or requests for reconsideration of the recent ruling on the motion to dismiss.

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2024-07-19 19:30