In Washington, Judge Amy Berman Jackson has rejected the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) request for a temporary asset freeze on Binance and its U.S. platform, Binance.US. This lawsuit has garnered significant attention in the industry. She ruled that Binance.US can continue its operations and instructed Binance to work on reconciling proposed restrictions. The judge also urged the SEC and Binance.US to engage in ongoing negotiations to find common ground.
Binance argued in separate court documents that an asset freeze would effectively shutter its US businesses and inflict “far reaching impacts” on the public and crypto market participants. The judge gave the parties until Thursday to work out the final details and has appointed a magistrate judge to act as a mediator for the negotiations. Binance.US must also file a list of “ordinary course expenses” by Wednesday morning 9 am ET.
During the proceedings, the judge requested that Binance.US provide a detailed account of its business expenditures and encouraged open discussions between the parties involved.
One crucial aspect of the case that Judge Jackson delved into was distinguishing between a “crypto asset” and a “crypto asset security.” The SEC lawyers struggled to provide a satisfactory explanation, leading the judge to seek clarification on this matter. While the SEC attorneys offered examples of cryptocurrencies they considered to be securities, they reserved the right to assess the remaining tokens listed on the exchanges at a later stage.
In response to whether BNB, Binance‘s native token, should be classified as a commodity or a security, Binance.US attorney Matthew Martens stated that it is a “crypto asset.”
The judge’s decision to reject the asset freeze request and her request for clarification on the classification of crypto assets and crypto asset securities highlight the complexities and challenges surrounding the case between Binance, Binance.US, and the SEC. The outcome of ongoing negotiations and further examination of the details will be crucial in determining the future course of action.
