The world's largest crypto exchange will urge a federal
judge to toss a lawsuit the SEC filed against it in June. The regulator accused
Binance, its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao and Binance.US's operator of
artificially inflating its trading volumes, diverting customer funds, failing
to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misleading investors about its
market surveillance controls. Binance was also accused of facilitating trading
of several crypto tokens the SEC deemed securities.
Wednesday's hearing comes two days after a similar hearing
in the SEC's case against U.S. exchange Coinbase, although Coinbase was accused
of operating as an unregistered securities exchange and does not face any fraud
charges.
BAM Trading, the operator of Binance.US, has already said in
court filings that the SEC has not made its case that Binance committed fraud.
Binance has also said the SEC does not have the authority to
oversee crypto assets, an argument similar to one laid out on Wednesday by
lawyers for rival Coinbase, which is also seeking dismissal of the case against
it.
Binance Holdings last year agreed to pay $4.3 billion to
settle with the U.S. Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading
Commission, and Zhao pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. laws designed to prevent
money laundering.
But the SEC's case, which is aimed at Binance's core
business model, is still hanging over the firm. It is also one of a slew of
cases the regulator has brought against crypto firms in recent years.
The SEC focused initially on companies selling digital
tokens, but under the leadership of chair Gary Gensler has shifted to firms
offering trading platforms and clearing activity, and acting as broker-dealers.
Crypto companies deny that most tokens meet the SEC's
definition of a security and say legislation is needed to regulate the
industry.
0 comments:
Post a Comment