Key Points
- A U.S. Court has asked Binance.US and the Securities and Exchanges Commission to negotiate and prevent a total asset freeze.
- United States District Judge Amy Berman Jackson threw away the request from SEC to freeze Binance.US assets, saying it was unnecessary.
U.S. Judge asks Binance.US and SEC to reach a pact
Binance.US wins in court as U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson orders SEC to negotiate and not freeze the exchange’s assets. Judge Berman has asked the two entities to reach a compromise claiming that extreme measures like the freezing of Binance.US assets are not necessary.
The SEC filed a complaint against the exchange on June 5, alleging that the exchange was acting as an unregulated securities broker in the U.S. It stated that the exchange had been exposing American citizens to unregistered and unregulated securities that could harm them in their process of investing.
The SEC quoted several instances where the exchange executives had incriminated themselves, accepting that they are an unregulated securities exchange. The regulator also flagged several bank transfers between Binance.US and the international exchange branch, saying their accounting is tied.
As such, the SEC expressed that Binance could take away funds from the U.S. platform; thus, they should be frozen to avoid funds flight. However, Judge Berman Jackson now sees no need for ‘extreme’ measures like that to be taken.
“Shutting it down completely would create significant consequences not only for the company but for the digital asset markets in general,” Jackson said at a June 13 hearing.
Judge Berman Jackson added that she wouldn’t decide on SEC’s motion for the temporary restraining order against Binance.US until the two parties had worked through their issues.
An update for the two parties’ negotiations has been scheduled for a hearing on June 15. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on crypto regulation and other fintech-related developments.