As when the global digital assets market was recovering from the recent downturn, a US judge ruled that the bulk of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Binance and its co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao can proceed.
SEC lawsuit against Binance and CZ Zhao
The lawsuit pushed by the US SEC a year ago, accuses Binance and Zhao of mishandling customer funds. The allegations includes misleading investors and regulators, and violating securities laws.
The report mentions that out of the 13 counts in the lawsuit, 10 will proceed in their entirety. However, two charges will proceed partially, and one count has been dismissed.
The dismissed count involves sales of BUSD, a stablecoin that has become nearly defunct following regulatory action.
Part of a count concerning sales of Binance’s token BNB was also dismissed. The dismissed portion relates to secondary sales of BNB by parties other than Binance.
Market impact and regulatory landscape
BNB witnessed minor downturn amid a long upward trajectory. BNB price is up by 82% on the year to date (YTD) basis. Meanwhile, its price dropped by 3% in the last 7 days. It is trading at an average price of $569, at the press time. However, it’s 24 hour trading volume stood at $1.5 billion with a market cap of $89 billion.
Additionally, an allegation regarding the illegality of the Simple Earn program was dismissed, but the remainder of the related count will proceed. Simple Earn is a program that allows investors to lend tokens and earn interest.
In November, Binance was fined $4.3 billion in a plea deal with the Justice Department and US regulators over violations of US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws. Zhao was sentenced to four months in jail. The SEC was not part of this plea agreement.
Under the leadership of Chair Gary Gensler, the SEC maintains that most digital tokens are unregistered securities subject to its oversight. Gensler has been a vocal critic of crypto exchanges and the digital asset industry, alleging widespread noncompliance.
Despite several SEC lawsuits to enforce this position, the question of whether digital tokens are securities remains unresolved. Clarifying legislation from Congress is still pending, and the industry accuses the SEC of regulatory overreach.
The SEC recently alleged that Consensys Software Inc. broke rules by failing to register as a brokerage and improperly collecting millions of dollars in fees. Consensys disputes these claims.