SEC Fires Back At BinanceUS With Evidence And Testimony

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US SEC Leverages Judge Failla Ruling in Coinbase Case to Binance, CZ Lawsuit – Crypto News

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1 year ago

March 28, 2024

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gets partial win in the Coinbase case, with Judge Failla ruling significant decisions on securities aspects in wallet service, staking service, secondary market sales, and others. The U.S. SEC now seeks to leverage key decisions in the Coinbase case, including dismissal of the lawsuit, against Binance and other defendants.

SEC Files Coinbase Ruling in Binance Lawsuit

In a court filing late March 27, the plaintiff U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission submits a notice of supplemental authority informing the court about Judge Failla’s ruling in SEC v. Coinbase. This will be the second valid supplemental authority against Binance, Binance.US, and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao after the Binance class action lawsuit.

As per an earlier decision by the court regarding supplemental authority, the SEC just notified the court rather than contesting arguments related to Binance’s lawsuit dismissal.

The SEC charged Binance for the unregistered offers and sales of BNB, BUSD, and crypto-lending products “Simple Earn” and “BNB Vault.” Also, the SEC charged BAM Trading with the unregistered offer and sale of Binance.US’ staking-as-a-service program. The court in Coinbase ruled that staking program is unregistered securities.

Judge Failla also supported the SEC’s claim that Coinbase operated as an unregistered intermediary of securities, denying most of Coinbase motions but Wallet service.

In Coinbase and Binance suits, the SEC identified 19 crypto as securities. These are ATOM, BNB, BUSD, COTI, CHZ, NEAR, FLOW, ICP, VGX, DASH, NEXO, SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, SAND, MANA, ALGO, and AXS. The ongoing proceedings are likely to further clarify which crypto assets are securities.

Also Read: Judge Torres Ruling on XRP Secondary Market Sales Challenged by Ex-SEC Official

Secondary Market Sales As Securities

The U.S. SEC is currently attempting to argue that almost all cryptocurrencies under the Howey test are classified as investment contracts. Thus, these are unregistered securities, but crypto lawyers and firms think otherwise.

Judge Failla completely rejected Judge Torres’ reason in the Ripple decision that secondary market sales can’t be investment contracts because the purchaser doesn’t know who they are buying from.

Meanwhile, the Binance vs SEC lawsuit has reached the final stages of dispute resolution. The defendants have met almost all discovery and depositions requirements by the US SEC, with a final joint status report and a potential briefing in April.

Also Read: Sam Bankman-Fried Sentencing: DOJ Strengthens Argument Ahead Of Court Ruling