In a recent tweet, crypto analyst Adam Cochran suggests that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is playing a game of “brutal 4D chess” against Binance, the largest crypto exchange.
Cochran based his argument on the recent pronouncement by the SEC that the Binance stablecoin coin, BUSD, was an unregistered security. The analyst believes that the SEC’s move was calculated and designed to force Binance to settle the matter or face the prospect of discovery by a US agency.
According to Cochran, if the exchange were to settle, it would likely result in a penalty and possibly industry exclusion for its executives, including removing their market-making entity. By extension, the settlement would block the Voyager acquisition deal, setting a “soft precedent” for the SEC to use as leverage against other US-based exchanges.
1/4 SEC suggesting Binance is unregistered securities exchange, on grounds BUSD is unregistered security is brutal 4D chess. Binance has to settle, or else they'd be open to discovery by a US agency…
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) March 4, 2023
Furthermore, the SEC’s action already caused a stir in the crypto community, with many speculating on the potential implication for US-based crypto businesses and the crypto industry. However, crypto lawyer David Adler sides with the SEC with his comment. Adler said, referencing the implosion of Celsius Network Voyager:
It takes a bankruptcy to apparently learn what the SEC position is on whether crypto is a security.
Furthermore, data from the market tracking website, CoinMarketCap, showed BUSD had lost nearly $10 billion of its market share after the SEC action. BUSD had almost $17 billion in market valuation as of January 1, 2023, ranking sixth among the coins with the largest market cap.
Unfortunately, BUSD is nearly falling off the top ten ranking as its market share has fallen below the market cap of the popular meme Dogecoin (DOGECOIN).
