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NewsRescue
According to Reuters, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has petitioned a federal court in Washington, DC to issue a temporary restraining order freezing cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s US assets.
The move comes a day after the SEC filed 13 accusations against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao, stating that “Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” according to a news release from the SEC. Binance Holdings Ltd. and its subsidiary Binance.US are subject to the charges.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, said in a statement that the lawsuit “disappointed” and “disheartened” it, and warned that the SEC’s actions “undermine America’s role as a global hub for financial innovation and leadership.”
“Any claims that user assets on the Binance.US platform have ever been in jeopardy are simply false,” the business noted.
This is part of a broader assault on cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States. Also on Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), whose primary mission is to enforce the law against financial market manipulation, sued Coinbase, a prominent domestic cryptocurrency platform, accusing it of operating illegally since it failed to first register with the agency.
Since the collapse of the FTX exchange last year, which prompted investor panic and wiped out billions of dollars from the crypto industry’s market value, crypto trading platforms have come under heightened scrutiny from regulators. Lawmakers have called for stronger industry restrictions and increased transparency about how cryptocurrency companies operate and manage user payments.
