The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) increased the scale of its attack against the Binance cryptocurrency exchange.
The escalation of the SEC conflict against the big cryptocurrency exchanges (Binance and Coinbase) continues underway. On Monday, the commission attacked Binance for the first time, suing 13 counts that also include its CEO, Changpeng Zhao. But that was only the first part of the matter.
On Tuesday, while the new attack was still being debated, this time against Coinbase, the agency took another crackdown step. The SEC applied to the Columbia Court for an emergency temporary restraining order against Binance. It includes an immediate freezing of the company’s assets.
It is worth clarifying that this measure, if enforced by the court, only affects Binance US assets. In this way, the international company, with its exchange, will not be affected. This is much more serious than it already seems since the platform could suffer a massive withdrawal of funds from scared investors.
SEC Cracks Down on Binance
Although the SEC has an open war against cryptocurrencies, the problem with Binance seems to be particularly important. Consequently, it is the main cryptocurrency trading exchange in the world and on which many projects and investors in the sector depend. Therefore, the regulators seem to bet on nipping cryptos in the bud.
It is clear that the SEC wants to destroy cryptocurrency trading within the United States. The secretary of that institution, Gary Gensler, made statements that leave no room for further interpretations about his intentions.
“We don’t need another digital currency. We already have digital currency. It’s called the US dollar. It’s called the euro or it’s called the yen, they’re all digital right now,” the official said. This seems to bring to life the crypto community’s fears that the agency has an interest in boycotting the innovation represented by digital currencies.
Either way, Gensler has the power to do so under any argument. The all-out attack on Binance by the SEC seems to clearly point in that direction. The next step will be for the exchange to show that it is being handled correctly. The future of the company probably depends on the latter if it continues globally, or suffers a fate similar to that of FTX.
Restrictive Request Details
The SEC’s crusade against Binance and the crypto market, in general, seems to be far from over. The digital currency trading industry is on high alert. During the day on Tuesday, the co-founder of Gemini, Tyler Winklevoss published harsh words against the agency. He said that once upon a time an SEC indictment meant “you were doing something wrong.” He then pointed out that now it is just the opposite.
In any case, the regulators requested a total of 8 measures against Binance, Binance US, and Changpeng Zhao. As already stated, the actions include freezing the assets of the company (Binance US). Added to this is the repatriation of fiat money and cryptocurrencies held by or for the benefit of US clients.
In this action against Binance, the SEC lists the crypto firm’s alleged infringing conduct. They highlight: “breach of US regulatory laws, evasion of regulatory oversight, and open questions about various financial transfers and custody and control of client assets.”
By Audy Castaneda
