In brief
- The SEC filed to dismiss its 2023 lawsuit against Binance, its founder, and sister company.
- The regulator alleged at the time that the exchange sold unregistered securities, among other violations.
- Under President Trump, the SEC has scrapped a number of high-profile crypto lawsuits.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed to have its long-running lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance and its founder dropped, a court filing shows.
Wall Street’s biggest regulator in 2023 alleged that Binance, its boss Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and U.S.-based sister company Binance.US offered the sale of unregistered securities, failed to block U.S. users from accessing the main exchange, and commingled customer funds through a “web of deceit.”
The SEC’s chair at the time, Gary Gensler, alleged in the original lawsuit that Binance “attempted to evade U.S. securities laws by announcing sham controls that they disregarded behind the scenes” in a bid to keep big American investors using the platform.
Binance’s CCO at the time was alleged in the lawsuit to have told another Binance compliance officer in December 2018: “We are operating as a fking [sic] unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro.”
“The dismissal of the SEC’s case against Binance is a landmark moment,” a Binance spokesperson told Decrypt. “We’re deeply grateful to Chairman Paul Atkins and the Trump administration for recognizing that innovation can’t thrive under regulation by enforcement. The U.S. is back—leading from the front in the future of blockchain.”
The lawsuit is the latest under the aggressively pro-crypto Trump administration to be scrapped.
Under the President Biden-appointed Gensler, the regulator went hard after the crypto industry from 2021-2024. The SEC’s main gripe with crypto companies was that they were allegedly selling unregistered securities in the form of digital tokens.
During Gensler’s reign, the SEC sued Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, and many other companies in the space.
But since President Trump returned to office, the regulator has adopted a softer approach to the industry, dropping a number of high-profile lawsuits and probes.
President Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto industry and received backing from tech and digital asset business bigwigs—including companies sued by the SEC.
“We are pleased that the SEC fully dismissed its charges against Binance.US, confirming what we have always known—that the company did not violate U.S. securities laws,” Binance.US said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “Today’s news is a major milestone for our company, as putting this matter to rest allows us to focus entirely on growing our business and work on restoring our relationships that were impacted by the SEC.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details and comments from Binance and Binance.US.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
