The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn its civil lawsuit against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Joint documents on the final withdrawal were signed by lawyers of the SEC, Binance, and Binance founder Changpeng «CZ» Zhao.
The SEC stated that this does not reflect its position on other cryptocurrency litigation.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and Zhao in June 2023, accusing the exchange of artificially inflating trading volumes, laundering customer funds, and misleading investors about its control systems.
Binance was also accused of illegally facilitating the trading of several cryptocurrency tokens that the SEC under President Joe Biden’s administration believed should have been registered as securities.
This case was separate from the Binance’s November 2023 guilty plea and $4.32 billion fine for violating federal anti-money laundering and sanctions laws due to lapses in internal controls. Zhao pleaded guilty and was imprisoned for 4 months.
The SEC has also recently clarified that certain Proof of Stake (PoS) activities do not constitute trading in securities. The SEC stated that participants in mining activities are not required to register transactions with the Commission under the Securities Act. In addition, such activities do not fall within the exemptions from registration set forth in the Securities Act for mining activities.
Source: Reuters