The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked the court for a temporary ban on Binance in the United States, requesting that the company’s assets be frozen.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an emergency motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking the court to freeze the assets of Binance in the United States and return fiat and crypto funds to customers.
The SEC’s motion asks the court to take urgent action because of Binance’s “long record of violations.” The regulator demands to:
- Freeze the assets of Binance.US.
- Return fiat and cryptocurrency funds belonging to or destined for U.S. customers.
- Prohibit defendants from destroying, altering, or concealing financial records.
- Provide a complete listing of Binance.US’s customer assets, including the identity of the customers themselves.
The SEC asks the court to order Binance to transfer all customer assets belonging to U.S. clients to Binance.US accounts within ten days and to transfer all customer crypto-assets to new wallets with new private keys that will be in possession of BAM Trading employees in the United States.
Representatives of Binance.US said that the filing of such a petition is unfounded, as the company’s legal counsel provided the SEC with all the necessary information confirming the safety of assets of Binance users. In their view, the regulator’s action appears to be an attempt at “obtaining an advantage” in the upcoming lawsuit.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, also quickly assured users that their funds remain secure. He said that even if the SEC’s motion is approved by the Court, it’ll only affect Binance.US and will not impact Binance.com in any way.
The U.S. regulator accuses Binance of violating securities laws and defrauding investors. Also, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase.
