The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and two other subsidiaries, BAM Trading Services ("BAM Trading"）、BAM Management US Holdings Inc.（"BAM Management"The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and two other subsidiaries, BAM Trading Services (
), accusing the defendants of violating U.S. securities exchange rules. In this regard, Binance issued a long response, and Odaily sorted it out as follows:
We are disappointed that the SEC chose to file a lawsuit against Binance today and seek so-called emergency relief. From the beginning, we have actively cooperated with the SEC's investigation and worked hard to answer their questions and address their concerns. We've had a lot of good-faith discussions recently to reach a negotiated resolution to their investigation. But despite our efforts, the SEC has abandoned that process in today's lawsuit, opting to act unilaterally and litigate. We are frustrated with this choice.
While we take the SEC's allegations seriously, they should not be the subject of SEC enforcement action, let alone grounded in exigent circumstances. We intend to vigorously defend our platform. Unfortunately, the SEC’s refusal to meaningfully cooperate with us is just another example of the Commission’s erroneous and willful refusal to provide much-needed clarity and guidance to the digital asset industry’s services.
Today's action is yet another in a series of examples, as with other crypto projects facing similar lawsuits, the Commission's decision to use the brute force of law enforcement and litigation to regulate, rather than the thinking this dynamic and complex technology requires Delicate approach. Even if other U.S. authorities claim jurisdiction over certain tokens and services, unilaterally labeling them as securities will only exacerbate these problems.
Perhaps most surprising of all, the SEC's actions undermine the United States' role as a global center of financial innovation and leadership. In many parts of the world, digital asset laws are still immature, and regulation through law enforcement is not the best path. An effective regulatory framework requires cooperation, transparency, and thoughtful policy engagement, a path that the SEC has abandoned.
To be clear: Any allegations that user assets on the Binance.US platform were ever at risk are false, and given the staff had ample time to investigate, there was no justification for the staff's actions. All user assets, including on Binance and Binance-affiliated platforms (including Binance.US), are safe and we will vigorously defend against any allegations to the contrary. Instead, the SEC's actions here appear to be a rush to wrest jurisdiction from other regulators, and investors don't appear to be a priority for the SEC. Due to our size and global popularity, Binance is now an easy target for the US regulatory game.
Based on these developments, it appears that the SEC’s goal here was never to protect investors; if that was the case, the employees could have thoughtfully engaged with us on factual issues to demonstrate the safety and security of the Binance.US platform. Instead, the SEC's real intention here seems to be to make headlines.
We will continue to work with regulators and policymakers in the United States and globally because it is the right thing to do. Binance is committed to being an active participant in ensuring that the next generation of cryptocurrency regulation fosters innovation while implementing and ensuring important consumer protections. Since Binance is not a U.S. exchange, the SEC's actions were limited. Nonetheless, we stand with U.S. digital asset market participants against the SEC’s latest excesses and are ready to fight the legal battle with all our might.
