SEC Back in Court

After a rescheduled hearing due to extreme weather conditions last week, the Binance-SEC court hearing is taking place today, January 22nd, in Washington. 

This comes after the SEC has sued Binance back in June 2023 with 13 different charges, claiming that the exchange is offering unregistered securities and controlling its US branch, BAM Trading, and so on. 

The regulator also alleged that Binance worked to evade legal scrutiny, and that executives – including CEO and founder CZ – not only committed fraud, but also lied to investors. 

The SEC sure knows how to keep busy. From ETFs approval last week, to court cases with both Coinbase and Binance, the regulator is starting off the year on a strong note. 

Binance is getting ready to argue that the judge should throw out its SEC lawsuit, pushing the narrative that the exchange never offered unregistered securities to US investors. 

Moreover, the multinational exchange had asked a federal court to dismiss the lawsuit back in September, the reasoning being that the SEC was “seeking to achieve by litigation what it lacks by legislation”. 

However, this is not just about Binance. 

For the SEC, the stakes are much higher than just resolving a legal “beef” with one exchange.

A ruling in the regulator’s favour opens door to teeing up more court victories in parallel lawsuits with other exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken – ultimately making the SEC the #1 crypto regulator.

As for Binance, this case is another hurdle on the way. Ever since the resignation of CZ and the $4 billion fine, new CEO Richard Teng has publicly admitted that “mistakes” were made in the past, but has “now moved past them”.

The real issue in this case remains whether the regulator has jurisdiction over crypto assets, which could be seen as controversial for quite a few reasons, especially with what Chairman Gensler has been bringing to the table lately.