Binance and its CEO Ask Court to Dismiss SEC Lawsuit: Details
- Binance and its CEO have asked the US District Court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the SEC.
- In a 60-page petition, the lawyers wrote that the SEC had overstepped its boundaries when it filed the lawsuit.
- “In attempting to claim regulatory power over the crypto industry, the SEC distorts the text of the securities laws,” it said.
- Binance.US also filed a 56-page motion asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit by the SEC.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, have asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was filed recently in a United States court. The leading exchange has seen severe scrutiny from US regulators and, as a result, has lost confidence among investors.
As per a September 21 filing with the United States District Court, both Binance Holdings and Zhao, also known as CZ in the crypto space, stated that the US securities regulator had overstepped its boundary when it came to filing lawsuits against the crypto exchange. The lawyers wrote in the 60-page petition that “in attempting to claim regulatory power over the crypto industry, the SEC distorts the text of the securities laws.”
On the same day, the US arm of the crypto exchange, Binance.US, formally known as BAM Trading Services, made a move to get a lawsuit filed against it by the SEC dismissed in a separate 56-page motion. It is important to mention here that the SEC filed lawsuits against the crypto exchange, its US entity, and CEO Zhao in June this year.
US regulators sued CZ for operating a “web of deception” in June, claiming that Binance and its CEO secretly controlled customers’ assets, allowing them to commingle and divert investor funds “as they please.”
“We allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said.
Binance and its US arm have seen their market shares drop significantly owing to the lawsuits, and it seems that competitors like Coinbase are taking advantage and expanding their operations around the globe.
Recently, Coinbase has been partnering with multiple firms in the crypto sector and expanding operations in regions like Canada where crypto laws are fairer as compared to the US, as per CEO Brian Armstrong. The exchange also announced the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
