SEC vs Binance

[Bushdark]

Instead, we were able to reach a Court-ordered agreement with the SEC that allows us to continue our ordinary course business.

What does this statement really mean?
What is ordinary course business in this context.
Doesn't it mean normal trading and other things but not related to staking and other activities why SEC classified them as securities?

The fight between Binance and the sec had been calmed down by the judge that decided not to listen to the sec opinion to freeze the Binance US account. A lot had happened and I know that the US citizens will not be happy if Binance was sanctioned and finally leave the state. Since it is a good news for Binance US to go about there business and the SEC to cut out there allegetion against Binance and to refine a suitable process that will enable her to work on there lapses and stick the rules to enhance a friendly atmosphere.

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[pawel7777]

Instead, we were able to reach a Court-ordered agreement with the SEC that allows us to continue our ordinary course business.

What does this statement really mean?
What is ordinary course business in this context.
Doesn't it mean normal trading and other things but not related to staking and other activities why SEC classified them as securities?

That means that their funds won't get frozen and they will continue to operate, i.e. conduct their normal operations. Of course, I imagine that will all the panic probably most of the US customers decided to withdraw (you can't blame them), so the level of activity of Binance US is probably just a fraction of what it used to be. But at least they can carry on trading until the court rules otherwise.

[Zoomic]

Instead, we were able to reach a Court-ordered agreement with the SEC that allows us to continue our ordinary course business.

What does this statement really mean?
What is ordinary course business in this context.
Doesn't it mean normal trading and other things but not related to staking and other activities why SEC classified them as securities?

That means that their funds won't get frozen and they will continue to operate, i.e. conduct their normal operations. Of course, I imagine that will all the panic probably most of the US customers decided to withdraw (you can't blame them), so the level of activity of Binance US is probably just a fraction of what it used to be. But at least they can carry on trading until the court rules otherwise.

That is a great news. I almost misunderstood the statement because of the clause of ordinary course business used in the statement. I know Binance has lost a handful of US based customers but it is only just for a while and they will return to Binance.
We can also see that the market is green, should we attribute it to this news?

[zasad@]

https://protos.com/scoop-european-states-working-with-sec-on-binance-investigation/
"Police and financial regulators in several European countries are collaborating with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to unravel more information on Binance, sources close to the matter told Protos.

The SEC has been soliciting information on Binance’s activities from several European nation-states for some time and a number of them have been spurred into action after the exchange was indicted by the SEC and accused of commingling funds earlier this month.

Other European authorities are still in the process of assessing the complexity of Binance’s case and are yet to comply with the SEC’s requests for information."

https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/binance-markets-limited-deregisters-with-the-uks-fca/
Binance Deregisters in the UK, Expediting Its EU Exodus

__
The regulator kicks the Binance exchange from the US and European markets.Binance US will not be able to operate in the US without the support of the main company.

[safar1980]

Binance.US Market Share Drops to 1.5% in Wake of SEC Crackdown
"Binance.US now accounts for only 1.5% of the total weekly trading volume among US crypto exchanges, down from 8.2% at the beginning of the year and its peak of 22% in late March, according to data from Kaiko.

The sharp decline comes as Binance.US battles a number of challenges: its banking and payments partners are cutting off support, its liquidity is drying up and customers have been withdrawing funds from the platform.

“So what we are seeing here is sort of the collapse of Binance.US,” said Clara Medalie, director of research at Kaiko, in an analyst call Tuesday. “Can Binance.US survive in a post-SEC world? I think the jury is still out on that, but looking at the data, I think it’s very unlikely.”"

[zasad@]

https://www.coinspeaker.com/binance-us-legal-team-sec/
Binance.US and Its Legal Team Allege SEC Issued Misleading Statements in Lawsuit
"In a motion filed on June 21, Binance.US claimed the SEC has no evidence that the crypto exchange commingled users’ funds.If approved by the judge, the motion could prevent the SEC from making certain statements in public as Binance allege they would lead to market confusion.

“The SEC’s press release also appears to be designed to introduce unwarranted confusion into the marketplace, which could have the effect of harming BAM customers rather than protecting them. It also risks tainting the jury pool with misleading descriptions of the evidence concerning the Defendants,” Binance noted."

[pawel7777]

Someone on our local board posted a question on whether or not Binance will be in position to counter-sue SEC i.e. for defamation and reputational losses given SEC allegedly made a serious of accusations without any real evidence.
Anyone heard of any case where SEC got sued for something like that and lost?

I'd imagine, if that's a possibility at all, Binance would have to have all the charges officially dropped by the court first, but I'm just guessing.

[zasad@]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/binance-hires-former-justice-department-183540600.html
(Bloomberg) -- The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance Holdings Ltd., has hired a former white-collar prosecutor at the Department of Justice to represent the firm in the Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit, according to a court filing on Thursday.

Binance is under pressure in many countries
https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-scrutiny-in-brazil-as-government-demands-executive-testimony
Binance faces scrutiny in Brazil, exec summoned to testify before Congress
This development comes amid a global regulatory crackdown on Binance, which is facing investigations in multiple countries.

As long as there is no cryptocurrency legislation in the US, this shit will continue. Only it is not clear what the law will be, on the basis of a judicial precedent or on the basis of a decision of Congress.

[safar1980]

FSMA orders Binance to cease immediately all offers of virtual currency services in Belgium
The FSMA has noted that Binance is offering and providing exchange services in Belgium between virtual currencies and legal currencies, as well as custody wallet services, from countries that are not members of the European Economic Area. The FSMA has therefore ordered Binance to cease, with immediate effect, offering or providing any and all such services in Belgium.

[zasad@]

https://coinmarketcap.com/headlines/news/binance-austria-withdraws-license-application/
Crypto exchange Binance has withdrawn its license application with the Financial Market Authority of Austria, according to FinanceFWD.

"We are unable to share details of our conversations with regulators, however we remain committed to acting in compliance with our obligations wherever Binance operates," a Binance spokesperson told The Block when contacted to comment on FinanceFWD's report on the withdrawn Austrian application. "Our current focus in Europe is on ensuring that we will be in full compliance with the requirements of MiCA [Markets in Cryptoassets] when it is implemented at the end of next year."

[safar1980]

Binance Crypto Custody License Application Denied by German Regulator BaFin

Germany's financial watchdog has decided not to grant crypto exchange Binance a custody license, news publication Finance Forward reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report added that it's unclear if the denial was a formal decision from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) or an intention expressed in ongoing discussions.

[Bushdark]

Someone on our local board posted a question on whether or not Binance will be in position to counter-sue SEC i.e. for defamation and reputational losses given SEC allegedly made a serious of accusations without any real evidence.
Anyone heard of any case where SEC got sued for something like that and lost?

I'd imagine, if that's a possibility at all, Binance would have to have all the charges officially dropped by the court first, but I'm just guessing.

This is never possible since the sec is the one that is in charge of exchange and other firm regulations. Instead of Binance to sue SEC, the reverse will be the case. This is not a joking matter and if that eventually happens, there will be a problem for Binance in the future because the SEC would look for pay back to cripples the activities and the presence of Binance in the United States.

Binance can kindly over look the suit and amend there waysin the rightful manners in case there is any way they are breaching the law. The battle between Binance and the SEC is going to take a long time, that is if Garry still remains the president. Binance is just an exchange that is providing her services to the United States citizens and the SEC has the right to question the for any wrong doing.

[pawel7777]

This is never possible since the sec is the one that is in charge of exchange and other firm regulations.

So? That doesn't grant them any immunity from lawsuits. They still have to operate within the boundaries of the law, and when they overstep their authority or act in a negligent way causing harm (whether financial or other), they should be held accountable.

Quick google search return me these:
1) SEC sued for ‘inexcusable acts of negligence’
https://www.investmentnews.com/sec-sued-for-inexcusable-acts-of-negligence-35199
2) U.S. SEC wrongly collected $14.9 billion from defendants: lawsuit
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sec-lawsuit-idUSKBN1CW2YT

So it's definitely possible to sue them.

[zasad@]

https://www.reuters.com/technology/binance-market-share-takes-regulatory-hit-its-us-affiliate-shrinks-2023-07-05/
"July 5 (Reuters) - The market share of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its U.S. affiliate have shrank this year, as they battle an onslaught of regulatory crackdowns.

Last month, Binance was hit by a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly breaching the regulator's rules, pushing its global market share to 52% from 60% at the start of the year, according to data firm Kaiko.

Binance had begun to cede market share in March after its move to end zero-fees transactions for some trading pairs, said Dessislava Aubert, an analyst at Kaiko.

"Binance's market share has gone to a variety of exchanges with Bybit and OKX faring best," Aubert said."

[safar1980]

Binance Executives Exit as the Regulatory Heat on the Largest Crypto Exchange Intensifies
"The billionaire founder of crypto’s biggest exchange Binance Holdings Ltd. sought to defend the platform following the exits of executives who had been helping the company navigate a widening regulatory crisis.
Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao said “we continue to BUILD, and continue to hire” in a tweet on Friday after Binance’s chief strategy officer, general counsel and a compliance official departed, stirring fresh questions about the outlook for an exchange that’s facing probes in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific."

[pawel7777]

So things are really looking worse and worse everyday for Binance, they keep getting bashed from every side. We have reports of massive net outflows of customers' funds (which is understandable), but what puzzles me is how come Binance's proof of funds does not seem to reflect the situation at all:
https://www.binance.com/en/proof-of-reserves
It's showing snapshots of customers'/exchange's balances at the 1st of each month, and comparing BTC and USDT balances at 1 July with balances at 1 Feb (before all the drama started), the customers' funds actually went up. ETH balances went down compared to Feb, but are still higher than at 1 April. This doesn't make much sense to me, or maybe I'm just missing something here.

[zasad@]

So things are really looking worse and worse everyday for Binance, they keep getting bashed from every side. We have reports of massive net outflows of customers' funds (which is understandable), but what puzzles me is how come Binance's proof of funds does not seem to reflect the situation at all:
https://www.binance.com/en/proof-of-reserves
It's showing snapshots of customers'/exchange's balances at the 1st of each month, and comparing BTC and USDT balances at 1 July with balances at 1 Feb (before all the drama started), the customers' funds actually went up. ETH balances went down compared to Feb, but are still higher than at 1 April. This doesn't make much sense to me, or maybe I'm just missing something here.

Binance continues to be one of the major exchanges and there is no replacement yet. This exchange has a lot of problems, but the exchange has a lot of liquidity in many cryptocurrencies, so it is preferred by large traders. This exchange will not leave the crypto market, and the problems will end. Binance has a good market share in countries other than the US and Europe.

[Baofeng]

So things are really looking worse and worse everyday for Binance, they keep getting bashed from every side. We have reports of massive net outflows of customers' funds (which is understandable), but what puzzles me is how come Binance's proof of funds does not seem to reflect the situation at all:
https://www.binance.com/en/proof-of-reserves
It's showing snapshots of customers'/exchange's balances at the 1st of each month, and comparing BTC and USDT balances at 1 July with balances at 1 Feb (before all the drama started), the customers' funds actually went up. ETH balances went down compared to Feb, but are still higher than at 1 April. This doesn't make much sense to me, or maybe I'm just missing something here.

Probably the profits that they are getting out outflow to their proof of reserves that's why the funds are not going down, but instead continue to increase by the day. And maybe if there are customers leaving their platform, their could be some newbies joining them as well. So it's balance everything or their could be more customers joining them in return.

The thing with Binance is that they are on top of the food chain, so it's hard to topple them as they are very strong and CZ will not just give up the fight here.

[zasad@]

https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-withdraws-crypto-license-germany
Binance has withdrawn its cryptocurrency custody license application in Germany. The exchange confirmed its withdrawal to Cointelegraph on July 26, nearly a month after reports of rejections from The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).

On June 29, BaFin reportedly rejected the crypto exchange’s custody license. However, at the time, it was unclear whether the regulator officially denied Binance’s application or if it verbally informed the company. However, Binance has now confirmed that it has formally withdrawn its license application.

A spokesperson from Binance told Cointelegraph that it intends to re-apply for a license in Germany, with changes to its application reflecting the changes in the regulatory environment:

“Binance confirms that it has proactively withdrawn its BaFin application. The situation, both in the global market and regulation, has changed significantly. Binance still intends to apply for appropriate licensing in Germany, but it is essential that our submission accurately reflects these changes.“

[user210822]

https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-withdraws-crypto-license-germany
...

“Binance confirms that it has proactively withdrawn its BaFin application. The situation, both in the global market and regulation, has changed significantly. Binance still intends to apply for appropriate licensing in Germany, but it is essential that our submission accurately reflects these changes.“

What changes we are talking about? Was it about Binance legal opression only or is it wider in the sense of crypto-movement?