Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has failed to convince a United States court to dismiss most claims made against it by the country’s securities regulator.
Claims related to Binance’s staking program, the sale of BNB (BNB) after its initial coin offering and anti-fraud violations will proceed, Judge Amy Berman Jackson stated in a June 28 court filing.
The security regulator's claim that former Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao acted as a “control person” will proceed, as will its claim that Binance was obligated to register under the Exchange Act.
But it wasn’t a clean sweep for the Securities and Exchange Commission — with Jackson ultimately deciding to dismiss claims related to BNB secondary market sales and all sales related to the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin.
Jackson cited Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling in the SEC’s case against Ripple to support her decision to dismiss the SEC’s BNB secondary market sales claim.
It took finance lawyer Scott Johnsson by surprise, who described it as a “big loss” for the securities regulator.
The SEC’s claims related to Binance’s passive income feature “Simple Earn” was also knocked back by Jackson.
Jackson scheduled a court hearing for July 9.
The Gary Gensler-led SEC sued Binance back in June, 2023, claiming Binance offered the sale of unregistered securities and was operating illegally in the U.S.
Binance and CZ filed to toss the SEC lawsuit about three months later, claiming the SEC overstepped its legal authority.
Seven U.S. states have either revoked or not allowed Binance to renew its money transmitter licence — including Alaska, Florida, Maine and North Carolina.
Meanwhile, CZ is currently serving a four month prison sentence for violating money laundering laws.
Despite the lawsuit, Binance remains the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world with over 200 million users and $100 billion in assets under management.