The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is scheduled to continue following a ruling on Friday
In the SEC lawsuit, a magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has approved 10 of the 13 counts.
The judge stated that 10 of the 13 charges could be pursued entirely, while two counts could be pursued partially, and one count was dismissed entirely
Bloomberg reported that Judge Amy Berman Jackson has indicated that the lawsuit’s 10 counts may be pursued in their totality, while two counts may be pursued in part.
After the exchange entered into a plea agreement with other regulatory agencies, such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated legal proceedings against Binance and CZ last year.
A historic fine of $4.3 billion was imposed due to the plea agreement. The SEC also supported its claims by referencing the unsealed plea agreements of Binance and CZ.
The SEC’s allegations against Binance and CZ pertain to the mismanagement of customer funds, the deception of investors and regulators, and the violation of securities laws. Binance and CZ have been attempting to have the allegations dismissed.
Count the number of dismissals
The judge dismissed one count in the lawsuit concerning the sale of Binance USD (BUSD), a stablecoin. Paxos, Binance’s BUSD issuing partner, ceased minting BUSD in February after the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) took action against the stablecoin, which is now defunct. Binance declared in November that it would discontinue its support for BUSD by December 2023.
A portion of a dismissed count pertained to the secondary sale of BNB, Binance’s native token, by entities other than Binance. According to CryptoSlate data, BNB has a market capitalization of over $84 billion and a circulation of over 147 million tokens.
The judge also dismissed a portion of a claim that pertains to Binance’s Simple Earn program, which enables users to earn interest by lending tokens.
The SEC’s lawsuit against Binance is just one of numerous legal actions taken to establish cryptocurrencies as securities subject to the SEC’s jurisdiction. However, the SEC has been criticized by many individuals in Congress and the crypto industry for its excessive regulatory authority.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Consensys on Friday in its most recent endeavor, asserting that the MetaMask wallet and its exchanging and staking capabilities violate securities laws.
