SEC Sues Binance and CZ For 'Blatant Disregard of the Federal Securities Laws,' Names Coins It Deems As Securities

• "The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Binance Holdings Ltd. (“Binance”), which operates the largest crypto asset trading platform in the world, Binance.com; U.S.-based affiliate, BAM Trading Services Inc. (“BAM Trading”), which, together with Binance, operates the crypto asset trading platform, Binance.US; and their founder, Changpeng Zhao, with a variety of securities law violations."

“Through thirteen charges, we allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

• "As alleged, Zhao and Binance misled investors about their risk controls and corrupted trading volumes while actively concealing who was operating the platform, the manipulative trading of its affiliated market maker, and even where and with whom investor funds and crypto assets were custodied."
• "They attempted to evade U.S. securities laws by announcing sham controls that they disregarded behind the scenes so that they could keep high-value U.S. customers on their platforms. The public should beware of investing any of their hard-earned assets with or on these unlawful platforms.”"

“We allege that Zhao and the Binance entities not only knew the rules of the road, but they also consciously chose to evade them and put their customers and investors at risk – all in an effort to maximize their own profits,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

• "By engaging in multiple unregistered offerings and also failing to register while at the same time combining the functions of exchanges, brokers, dealers, and clearing agencies, the Binance platforms under Zhao’s control imposed outsized risks and conflicts of interest on investors."
• "Those risks and conflicts are only heightened by the Binance platforms’ lack of transparency, reliance on related-party transactions, and lies about controls to prevent manipulative trading."
• Despite their years-long efforts to not ‘be held accountable,’ today’s complaint begins the process of doing so."
• The lawsuit also appears to be claiming that SOL, ADA, MATIC, FIL, ATOM, SAND, MANA, ALGO, AXS, COTI, BUSD, and BNB are all unregistered securities.

• In a reaction to the news, Binance endured $69 million in net outflows within an hour, CoinDesk reported.

SEC Press Release / Archive
Case Document / Archive