SEC and Binance seek pause in litigation amid changes in crypto enforcement | Encryption News
The joint motion is the primary effort to retreat from previous crypto enforcement by U.S. regulators under democratic leadership.
According to a court application, Binance and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have asked federal judges to keep litigated against cryptocurrency exchange lawsuits, citing potential impact from the newly formed task force.
The motion to request a 60-day stay marks the primary effort to retreat from the SEC's previous crypto enforcement under democratic leadership.
In a joint motion filed late Monday, the parties said the SEC task force formed last month was designed to “encrypt the regulations” that could “impact and promote potential solutions to the case.”
Some see it as an early sign of the SEC's hub for its more crypto-friendly position, reflecting President Donald Trump's commitment to make the United States a global hub for the industry.
Under Republican leaders, the Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to begin reviewing existing court cases such as Binance, which regulators argue are listing encryption for acts like securities Tokens.
A spokesman for the agency declined to comment outside of court proceedings.
“We have been using law enforcement to develop policies,” Republican SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said Tuesday in an incident with the Federal Society for Law and Public Policy (Conservative and Free Law Organization).
“SEC’s Transformation to Encryption”
SEC regulators sued binance in June 2023, its U.S. division and founder Changpeng Zhao, accusing them of artificially expanding transaction volume, diverting client funds and misleading investors about their market surveillance controls.
A Binance spokesman said: “The SEC case has never had any merits and we are eager to leave it behind and continue to focus on making Binance the safest, most licensed and trustworthy communication in the world.” Chair Mark Mark Uyeda.
Corey Frayer, a former SEC official, criticized the stay.
“The delay in the CEO's case of criminal charges and the SEC's guilty plea has left an employee dead in admitting his right to violate securities laws, clarifying that the SEC's shift to cryptocurrency could be completely liable,” he told Reuters.
In addition, in November 2023, Binance admitted to violating a law designed to prevent money laundering and serving his sentence in prison for related charges.
But since Trump took office, the U.S. government has made a huge shift in cryptocurrency. The president hired crypto-friendly Washington, with Washington, D.C. attorney Paul Atkins as the new chairman of the SEC.
Congress has not confirmed Atkins, but the SEC has begun shifting priorities under its existing Republican leadership, reassigning some of its crypto-enforcement lawyers to other areas and tightening investigative oversight.
Gary Gensler, the former SEC president, has asked Congress to help the agency control the cryptocurrency “Wild West.”
Peirce of the SEC pointed out on Tuesday that the comparison with the Wild West has a “positive side” and regulators need to regulate the industry and protect investors in a way that “recognizes the greatness of the American spirit moving west.”